You Belong With Me
by Springflake
Summary: A Songfic with Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me. Oldrivalshipping, Franticshipping and Haughtyshipping. AU.
1. Prologue

_Just to make this clear: Green is the guy, Blue is the girl.  
Also, I want you to know the first few chapters are written poorly, and therefore I will rewrite them as soon as possible.  
_

_~Lion3queen_

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* * *

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_You just keep tugging, pushing, pulling on my little heartstrings.__  
__Got me all tied up in knots anytime I see your face, oh it brings out, it brings out the girl in me._

I opened my eyes. The fatboy I was lying on wasn't in a very good shape according to my painful back.  
I looked around for a second; In the left corner of my room my friends Red -a boy with spiky raven hair and a cap that you'd think was glued to his head since he never took it of- and Yellow-a short girl with blonde hair which was always tied into a long ponytail- were watching a comedy program.

I turned my head into the direction of the window. There stood Green, my best friend, leaning on the window and gazing at the visible mountain tops and forests. The soft wind was blowing his blonde spikes. It was a pretty relaxing sight, really. Too bad it was ruined by the cell phone in his left hand. He was busy talking into like some kind of maniac.  
The sight would have been funny if I didn't know who the person he was talking to was.  
I faced the opposite wall again.

Green was on the phone with Platina Berlitz right now. The richest, most popular, most beautiful, most talented girl of the school, who happened to be his girlfriend. Nobody seemed to care about the fact that she didn't even talk to you when you wore jeans that were less than 400$. She reminded me of one of the 'bitches' in teenage movies. I despised those movies, but trying to escape them was useless effort. Anyway, except for the fact that Platina's hair was raven and not the usual blonde, she totally fit the 'bitch' role. And another difference between her and the rich girls in movies, in the end, 'bitches' always lose. Platina always won. _Always_.  
For example, take Green. He had been my crush for 16 years, and at the day I wrote a song for him to finally confess, he told me he was dating Platina Berlitz, who appeared to be his crush.  
-And how ironic, for 16 years.

_Don't know just how you did it, but you got me real good._  
_Hooked, line and sinker like I knew you could._  
_But you don't even notice, boy how I wish you would._

After he told me that, I stood there like an idiot, my guitar in my hands and with my mouth open. When he asked me what the guitar was for, I told him I was practicing for an act for the school talent show, which I wasn't even planning on doing. But hey, he told my friends and they all signed me in to do me a favour. Well, I guess that's what they wanted it to be.

Well, to get back on the subject.. Green was talking to her on the phone like this because she was mad at him for making fun of her new pumps.  
It was just a joke, which his real friends would've noticed.  
...Which _I_ would've noticed.  
I was there the moment he made that joke. Personally I thought it was funny. I only laughed harder when she ran away while shouting out all kinds of offenses at Green, but I guess that's normal in my case.

Oh, wait. Yes, I told you he's been my crush for 16 years.  
Yeah, it's true. We've known each other since we were babies. Along with Red, we were like the three musketeers.  
Yellow befriended us a year ago, when she moved here from Sinnoh and joined our class. She didn't make any friends for over a month, since she was shy, small and went red like a tomato every time someone talked to her.  
So Red started talking to her. That was very easy, noticing how he was the nicest from all three of us. Not that Green and I weren't nice, we just sometimes said harsh stuff, without meaning to hurt others. Red didn't want to take that risk. So yeah, Yellow befriended us, and now we were the four musketeers... Kind of.|  
Yellow later appeared to be unbelievably talented in math, so she started tutoring me and Red. Green was even better at math, since he was the smartest of our whole school... But despite that, his tutoring habits were zero.  
Yeah, my childhood was peaceful. Well, if you don't count the 6 years I was kidnapped.

-Oh, wait! I didn't tell you that yet, did I?  
Well, I was kidnapped when I was six. Just like that. All of a sudden, I lost everything: My friends, my parents, my posessions and my happiness...

That day I was walking home from Red's house. Red, Green and I had been playing hide and seek in Red's garden all day.  
The weather had been beautiful.  
Strangely, on the way home suddenly clouds had formed an enormous thick, grey layer in the sky, so that even though it was only 5 pm, it seemed like it was midnight. Not very long after that it had started raining. Not just rain, but pouring rain. My small legs were soaked, and wherever I went, the puddles were so deep that the water leapt into the rubber boots Red's mom had lent me, like she always did in case the weather changed like it just did. My house was pretty far from Red's and Green's houses, you see. While I was splashing through the puddles, I Suddenly heard another sound. Not the rain or the thunder, but a loud, low sound. Like the one a bumblebee makes.

_I think I might be going crazy, because my heart is yours to have and hold or break._  
_How'd you get to be so close, and just so far away?_

I looked up, and saw an enormous helicopter. It landed on a grass-land next to the path I was running on.  
Suddenly a few men came out of it. I couldn't see their faces since it was too dark, but they were tall and from what I could see, muscled. I understood that running was no option, they would have caught up with me in a few seconds. The men took a hold of my arms and dragged me along with them. It didn't matter how hard I screamed, they wouldn't let go. I looked behind me at the small path. There wasn't anyone around who could help me and stop the men from hurting me and dragging me with them. All I saw were the dark forests and the wet grass-lands.

When we arrived at the place they seemed to be desperate to take me, according to the horrible stories they were telling each other about their boss, I saw other children. They didn't seem to be upset or want to escape. There was only one other person who wanted to escape, Silver, the youngest of the Masked Children.

Yeah, we were called after the masks we wore. Probably to stop other's from recognising us when we were stealing for our kidnapper, the Mask of Ice.  
It could also be that it was just something he considered 'cool' or that he watched too many kidnapping movies.

Anyway, one day me and Silver managed to escape. I felt such sympathy with that boy. When we had escaped, I could finally take his mask of and look into the eyes of the boy I had developed such a brother/sisterly bond with over 6 years. Even though I could now see his whole face, I could see it was still the same boy that had been so happy 6 years back, the same boy who I loved so much, the same boy whose family was torn apart, the same boy-

...Who was now poking my shoulder.

_I think he might be close to perfect, girls you know what I mean._  
_He's got a face straight out of a magazine._

I slowly opened my eyes, and saw Silver sitting next to me, while talking to me. I couldn't hear him of course, I was listening to music with my headphones turned on a little too loud, but judging from the look in his silver eyes he was pretty annoyed.  
''Can't hear you!'' I told him, while closing my eyes again.

_Gotta pinch myself to prove he ain't a dream. oh, oh o-_

I opened my eyes, and frowned in annoyance. Silver had removed my headphones.  
''I tried to tell you your friends left,'' He said in a low voice. ''They left after you had fallen asleep, and didn't want to wake you.''  
''I fell asleep?!''  
''Yep, and they told me you were snoring.''  
I felt my face flush. That was so embarrassing...  
''And oh yeah, Yellow asked me to remind you of the talent show tomorrow.''  
''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!''  
''Shit.. I told Green I was sure you remembered. Looks like I owe him 10$.''  
I didn't even hear what Silver was saying, I was too busy trying to get to my desk as fast as possible, and tripping over things while doing so.  
''...A song... I need to write a song...''  
I was breathing heavily and randomly writing words down on the paper in front of me.  
Ok, I had to write a song in less than 2 hours, because I had to sleep early. That's a strange habit of me, if I'm too tired I can't sing. And I couldn't take that risk. Not after I found out Platina was entering this contest too.  
Yeah, I told you she's the most talented person in the school, right?

I ment at EVERYTHING.


	2. Chapter 1

''Blue?''

''...Hn...''

''BLUE!''

I opened my eyes. My mom was standing next to my bed and had been screaming into my ear for the past few minutes.

''You might want to get up, sweetie. Your friends are waiting downstairs and you're going to be late for school.''

''EEP!'' I quickly jumped out of my bed and pulled on the first t-shirt and skirt I could find. After that I grabbed my shoes and clumsily tried to put them on while running out of my room, causing me to jump up and down on one leg.

''Be careful, honey! you might hurt yourself!''

That reminded me, last evening I came up with a plan to deal with my stage fright: I'd just fall down the stairs or break a leg on my way to school.  
...Though now that I was awake enough to look it over, it didn't seem like such a good idea.

When I had put my shoes on, I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.

''Good morning, sunshine.'' My dad said. ''Hi, dad.''

''Hey there, Blue!'' Red said in a cheerful voice.

''About time..'' said Green, obviously.

''I'm sorry we left without telling you yesterday, Blue! We didn't want to wake you because we thought you would need the sleep for today.'' Yellow told me.

''That's true, today's the big day, isn't it?'' ''Yes, dad. Blue's going to compete in the talent show today!''  
I was surprised at that voice, I didn't hear Silver entering the room. ''Gold and Crystal are here, so I'm off.''

I smiled at that. After my parents had adopted him, Silver had had a hard time making friends, the doctor's said he might be traumatized because of the kidnapping, like I had developed a fear of birds. Probably because of the fact that I thought the helicopter the Mask of Ice kidnapped me was a gigantic bird at first.

''Have a nice day, Silver!'' ''See you later, Dad, Blue, Red, Yellow.'' Silver glared at Green for a second and said: ''...Green.''

Silver and Green didn't like each other much. I had never fully understood why, but it might have something to do with the fact that Green was dating Platina, and Silver was my protective little brother. Plus, he knew I liked Green.

My mom entered the kitchen. ''Blue, sweetie. Shouldn't you and your friends go to school now?''

''Yes, mom! You're right, Bye!'' We all stood up from the kitchen table we'd been sitting on, grabbed our bags and walked out of the door.

''Well, Blue? Did you write a song for today?'' Red asked me after I slammed the front door shut, .

''...Um, yeah... But I only had 2 hours to write it, so it sucks pretty badly.''

''Blue, could you please let us hear it? We could help you make it better if you'd appreciate that.'' I smiled at her, after a year of hanging out with us, she still talked formal like that.

''Ok then.'' I sang the song had written, and was actually pretty proud of how it sounded. Not only was the song quite good, I didn't sing it very bad either!

All of my friends were quiet for a moment, until Red patted me on the back with quite much force, causing me to cough.

''Well done, Blue! You are SO going to win that contest, I'm sure of it! The competition should better start pitying themselves!''

''...cough!...Gee...cough!...Than-...Thank you, Red!''

''Blue, are you ok?!'' Said Yellow's worried voice.

''No, I'm ok...''  
''Ah, I'm sorry. Did I pat you too hard?''

''Does it LOOK like you pat her too hard?'' That was Green, sighing at his friend's stupid comment.

''Blue, that was amazing! Red is right, you're going to blow away the crowd!'' Yellow was jumping up and down happily. I glanced at Green for a second. He was actually grinning! ''...Yes, i'm going to win!'' I nearly shouted.

''I'm so NOT going to win.'' I was sitting on one of the chairs, backstage of the big school talent show.

''The competition is too good, I'll never win with a crappy voice and song like mine!''

''Blue, don't be silly! You're way better than those guys.'' Yellow tried to encourage me.

''Man, you're shivering all over!'' Red noticed. ''...Stage fright, remember?'' Green told him.

''Wait, Blue. I'll get you a glass of water.'' Yellow told me, and she hurried to the bathroom.  
After a few minutes I heard a familiar voice.

''Green, it's Platina's turn. Shouldn't you be with her right now?'' A blonde boy passed us. It was Pearl, one of Platina's friends if I wasn't mistaken. A nice guy, but he got pissed off very easily.

''Yeah, I'll be there in a minute.'' After a few more minutes Yellow still wasn't back.

''I Think I'll go check on her.'' Red said.

''Yeah, nice idea.'' I said with an awfully trembling voice. Red walked off, and now Green and I were alone in the mass of people who were walking from and to every direction. I sighed very deeply, trying to calm down and telling myself I could win this, that I wouldn't mess up and that I was the best candidate of them all.

''Calm down, it'll be ok.'' I looked at Green. ''Just that the competition is good, doesn't mean they're better than you.''

''That's what I'm trying to tell myself.''  
He was silent for a moment and then asked ''Why would you even enter a contest if you got damn' stage fright?''

Now it was my turn to be silent for a few seconds.. Then I said ''I-I'm not telling you.''

''...Pesky girl.''

''...Maybe.''

Minutes passed, and I was just going to start another conversation with Green, when Pearl passed us again, this time in the opposite direction from the one he'd just come from.

''Green, are you coming to cheer on Platina or not?''

''I think I won't.''

''...But you're her boyfriend.''

''She's got her fans, hasn't she?''

''No excuse.''

''Look, Blue here has got stage fright. I'm not going as long as there's no one else to stay with her.''  
Pearl looked from Green, to me, to the direction where Platina probably was, sulking about how her boyfriend had left her all alone, only accompanied by her money, staff, fans and friends.

''Ok.'' He finally said, and walked to the direction Platina was. I wondered if we could hear her scream from our position.

Not very long after that Red and Yellow returned. Red was busy talking to her.

''...-ay it again, why would you tell her you're getting her a glass of water if you don't have a freaking idea where the toilets are?''

''I'm sorry, Red!''

''Come on, don't be like that. It's ok...''

''I failed Blue, at such an important occasion!''

''Come on, you couldn't know...'' Red said. It was funny how he didn't know how to act around embarrassed girls.

''Hey there, you guys. I'm sorry we were gone for such a long time.''

''Ah, It was just 1 hour, 2 minutes and 43 seconds. But hey, who's counting.'' Green said with a serious face, and we all laughed.  
Our laughter was disturbed by a voice screaming: ''Blue's turn! Please come to the stage, Blue!''  
In one second my stage fright had returned. I slowly tried to stand.  
I couldn't even move my legs, they felt too heavy for the rest of my body.

''Come on, Blue! You can do it!'' I heard the encouraging voices of my friends.

Slowly, I started walking to the stage.  
I heard the presenter announce me, and walked into the light.  
I could now feel I was trembling all over my body.  
It felt like it became heavier with every step I took, but despite that I still steadily walked into the direction of the microphone and the chair with the guitar which was probably put there for my act.  
I had almost reached it, kept reaching out to the object.  
I looked at the crowd, it was very big and everywhere I looked were people.  
I started shivering even harder now, and felt my heart pounding.  
It seemed like the microphone was moving further away from me with every step I took.  
The sounds from the crowd seemed to become louder.  
My body became heavier.  
Further, louder, heavier...  
Further, louder, heavier...  
Further, louder, heavier...  
...Until suddenly, the voices of the crowd started to fade, and everything went black.

''...I can't believe I fainted.''

''...It'll be ok.''

''I hear that a lot lately.''

''Ok, It'll not be ok.''

''Not helping...''

''Then what am I supposed to do?''  
Green and I were walking, passing several shops. We were supposed to meet Red and Yellow in one of the snack bars here, but we had both forgotten the name of the one where our friends were waiting for us, so now we were just walking around, talking and waiting until one of them turned their phone on. Right now I was acting like I wasn't talking because I was too grumpy from what had happened yesterday, but the truth is that I was enjoying every moment. It was the first time in ages that we'd been together for fun. The first time since he had started dating Platina Berlitz. Even though I was happy for him... I couldn't help but thinking this was how it's supposed to be. The two of us with Red and Yellow, and without Platina.

''You know what, I think Platina's pretty lucky you couldn't compete.''

''What do you mean?''

''Your song was better, and you're a way better singer.''

''...Thanks...'' Why was he saying this?!

...Beep-Beep-Beep...

...Beep-Beep-Beep...

''Looks like Red turned on his phone.'' Green said while searching his bag for his phone.  
It was a good think his phone rang, now that his attention was on his and Red's conversation he probably wouldn't notice my red cheeks.

After I'd hidden my face by putting my hood on, Green ended his conversation with a ''Yeah, we're on the way.''  
He looked a bit surprised when he looked at me again, but luckily all he said was ''Were you cold?''

''...Um... Yeah, I was.'' I answered.

''Guess you're lucky, then. Red and Yellow are in the snack bar on the corner of the street.'' He pointed his finger to a big, yellow building with a big plastic bag of fries with the words 'Eat, you know you want to' on top of it.  
I looked at it in disgust, I could almost see the filthy vapour coming out of the windows. I turned my head towards Green, and saw he was looking at it with the same expression.

He looked at me, and said ''What about telling them we couldn't find it and just go and eat there?''

He now pointed his finger at a building at the opposite side of the street. It looked much better.  
It looked like some kind of Chinese take away restaurant.

''Yeah, let's do that.'' I answered him, and sighed in relief.


	3. Chapter 2

_Hey there, people. I'm back! 8D_  
_*dodges rotten tomatoes*_

_I'm so sorry the updating took me so long… But I have an explanation:_

_…It was all Usa's fault. 8D_

_No, really. She's the slowest beta in history._

_…Ah, don't look at me like that._

_She's nice!_

_…When she isn't hungry…_

_Oh, I'm drifting off again._

_Well, to make up for the slow updating, I will be updating two chapters at once!_

* * *

''Blue!''

''Eep!''

I dropped the magazine I was reading and turned my head in the direction where the voice came from.

''What is it, Silver? You scared the hell outta me!''

''Ah, there you are.'' He sat down on the couch in our living room. I was on the opposite side of the room, on a chair.

''How long have you been here? I thought I was alone!'' I said.

''I just came in. I saw your bike in the front garden, but I couldn't find you.''

''...So you started to shout out my name in every room?''

''Actually I didn't. I knew you would be here, since this is your favorite place in the house after your own room, right?''

''Eh? Then why did you shout out my name this loudly?''

''Yeah, I COULD have just told you I was home, of course. But this is way more fun.'' He ducked just in time to prevent my magazine from hitting his head. For some reason he was laughing at my bad mood. It was quite strange how people found my bad moods funny, but I wasn't complaining. I preferred people to laugh at me rather than being angry with me.

''How was the talent show?'' He asked me, when he was done laughing. The look I gave him was probably enough. ''...Oh...''

''...I fainted.''

''You FAINTED?''

''Shut up, it's so embarrassing.'' I grabbed a pillow and pressed my face into it so he couldn't see my stupid expression.

''I'm sure it wasn't that bad. The whole school is probably concerned about you right now, they probably don't even think about it as something embarrassing.'' I didn't put down the pillow.

''Where did you eat dinner today?'' He said, attempting to change the subject. ''A new Chinese restaurant.''

''Ah, I heard the food's nice there.''

''True, it was delicious.'' I put down the pillow and faked a smile.

''Listen, I've got homework to do. I'm upstairs in my room, ok?''

''Yeah, sure.'' I left the room. When I was upstairs I passed my parent's and Silver's bedrooms. I entered my own room. I went straight to my desk. Then I glanced towards the window. The window looked out over a small lawn, and Green's house.

...Yeah, before I was kidnapped, I lived in a house that was outside of the town, but when I came back we moved to the town so I never had to walk in the dark landscape alone again. This was mostly because of my parents, I don't get scared all that easily. I understand though. I think that if I had a daughter and she was taken away from me, I'd probably spend the rest of my life trying to protect her from any other harm. To make sure she doesn't have to suffer from anything ever again. To try making her so happy, to give her so much love, she would just forget about everything.

...This wasn't the case, though. I remember everything that happened so unbelievably well that I often got nightmares in which everything seemed to happen all over again. Whenever that happened, I would wake up screaming, panting, yelling to my parents. Well, to get back to the point: Green and I were now neighbors.

The funny thing was that now my and Green's rooms faced each other. I shouldn't be very surprised to see him in his room, noticing that. But there was a reason why it caught my attention. Green was pacing up and down in his room while talking into his cell phone. He seemed upset.

I quickly picked up my sketchbook and a pen and wrote down the words 'You ok?'.

I held up the sketchbook so he could read it. After a few minutes he looked in my direction and smiled for a bit after deciphering my messy handwriting. Then he, too, walked towards his desk and wrote something down on his sketchbook. He held it up. I could read the words 'Yes, I'm fine.' In a much neater handwriting. I was about to write something down again, when he held up another page of his sketchbook. With the words '...If you ignore all the drama.' On it. I quickly scrawled down 'I'm sorry' and showed it to him. He smiled weakly.  
...I didn't notice it before, but in the past days he had been very tired.

Before I knew what I was doing I wrote down 'I love you'. I was about to show it to him, but when I looked up, his curtains were closed.  
I sighed and slowly held up the sketchbook to his curtains, knowing he couldn't see it.

''...no need to wait so long in the canteen. Don't you think so too, Blue?''

''...Huh?'' I blinked for a second, and looked around the table. Red, Green and Yellow were looking at me.

''Did you hear a word I was saying?'' Red asked.

''...Um... Not really...'' I replied while looking down, quite embarrassed.

''Are you ok, Blue? You have been dazing off very often since the... Talent show incident happened...'' Yellow said. I could hear she was concerned by the way she asked me that.

''It's nothing, really! I'm fine!''  
I pretended to enjoy the canteen food, though noticing my friends' worried expressions my act wasn't very believable.

I heard yelling from a table next to ours. The people making the noise were Ruby, a boy with black hair and a white hat, and Sapphire, a girl with brown hair who always wore a blue bandana. They were both in our class and the total opposite of each other. Ruby liked to sew and hated fighting and Sapphire hated everything that was girly and loved to fight. Despite that and the fact they had fights like this one almost every day, they were best friends. They were sitting around a table with another boy who was in our class too. His name was Emerald, a blonde boy who was too small for his age, and loved to wear clothes in emerald, which matched his eye color and name. It had a funny effect, really. Even though Ruby and Sapphire were shouting at each other he didn't look like he was going to stop them anytime soon.

''Aw, look at you bickering like an old couple.'' Gold, Silver's best friend, said snickering. He was walking towards the table Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald were sitting.

Silver and Crystal followed behind. ''Geesh, Gold... Don't interfere like that, you know it's none of your business.'' Crystal told him while frowning and making a waving gesture with her forefinger like she was telling a little kid it was wrong to eat a cookie without asking.

''Come on, miss serious. Don't be like that. There's no need to pretend you don't like me, I can see right through the act.'' Even though Crystal and Gold were arguing Silver was just standing beside them with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression.  
Gold wasn't a bad person or anything, he just liked to tease people.

I looked at Ruby and Sapphire again, noticing the yelling had stopped. They were now just looking down their plates with red cheeks.  
I looked around the table I was sitting on. Though Red and Yellow were busy talking about some sort of science project Green was still looking at me with a worried expression. I smiled for a bit to put him at ease.

Silver sat down beside me. He first glared to the direction where Green was sitting and then started talking to me about how annoying his friends were. He told me some stories from classes they had this morning, and before I knew it I was laughing again.

Suddenly the bell rang. ''Hell, here I come.'' Silver sighed, and I patted his shoulder. ''It'll be ok, Silver. Just try stopping Gold BEFORE he pisses of a teacher so much that he or she throws a book at him next time.''

''Come, Blue! We're going to be late!'' Yellow yelled at me. ''I'm coming!'' I picked up my bag and ran to my friends.

I was in math class for about half an hour, and even though I didn't like the subject, I did feel comfortable here. This was mainly because seated at my left was Red, at my right Yellow, and in front of me was Green, to his annoyance. You see, when I get bored, I like to annoy people. Especially people who have names that start with 'G' and end with 'Reen'. And of course, this was Math. I was bored ninety percent of the time. I smirked deviously again, while poking his back with my pencil. He turned around slowly. Oh if looks could kill...

''Ok, you have three seconds to put that pencil down. If you don't, I refuse to ever help you out of detention again. Try poking me again and I'll tell the principal who dressed up the statue in front of the school in the mascot costume last month.'' I smiled at the memory of our school's founder's statue in the costume of Barry the Bustling Beaver.

''Aw, are you still going on about that? Every student found it funny! Even the teachers thought it was amusing, they just didn't dare say it because they would've been fired.''

''Do we have a deal?''

''Sure.''

He turned around on his chair and concentrated on the teacher again. I smirked, noticing Green just told me I couldn't **_poke_** him anymore. There were other ways to keep myself from being bored.

''...And oh, yeah.'' he said while looking at me again, ''What I just said is not just for poking, but for annoying me in any possible way.''  
Man, could he read my mind?

''Yeah, deal.'' I sighed and laid my head to rest on my arms.  
I looked up at him once again, and noticed he was smiling at me. ''What?'' I asked.

''I noticed how you seem to get easier to read with every day.''

''Eh?'' I said confused. ''That would be a shame... That means that from now on it'll be harder to trick you.''

''Knowing you, you'll most likely find a way.'' He grinned at me.  
I felt my cheeks heating up. _Argh.. _

My hand shot into the air. ''What is it, Blue?'' Professor Birch asked.

''Can I go to the toilet?''

''Yes, I can't think of any reason why n-''

''Thanks!'' I walked past the confused teacher and walked through the door.

After closing the door I slowly closed my eyes and leaned against the cool doorpost, waiting for the blush to go away. I didn't want to take the risk that Green would see it and suspect something.  
After a few minutes I heard a short cry from around the corner of the hallway.

''Still havin' such a big mouth?'' I heard a strangely familiar voice say.

''You know, hitting and kicking isn't what ladies do, is it? You might want to work on that.''  
I heard a strange sound after the last sentence. It sounded like someone was struggling to get away from a strong grasp.

''Don't try to run away now, sweetie. We can't let you go without a small talk, right?'' I was slowly walking in the direction the voices came from, so that I could hear it more clearly.

''You might not want to bother Platina anymore. Think of your good looking friend... What was his name? The one with the white hat. I don't know how his father would react if someone told him his son isn't taking the wrestling lessons he signed him up for, but is taking sewing lesson instead. And of course, that isn't the only thing your friend does without his father knowing. If he finds out depends on you.''

After that I heard a soft _thud,_ probably because the two boys had let go their victim, and footsteps getting louder and louder.

It took a few seconds for me to realize they were coming in my direction.  
Suddenly I started running towards my locker, which was just across the hallway.  
I tried to remember the code, but it was hard to think clearly when you know you're about to get caught for listening in on something like this, and didn't know the consequences.

_...5..._  
_...3..._  
_...9.._.

Unlocking it was hard because my fingers were trembling like hell. Suddenly I heard a soft _click _and quickly pulled open my locker.  
I jumped inside of it and clumsily shut the door, which was hard because the company that made the lockers didn't think of a door handle inside the locker, just in case you had to hide from people since you had just listened in on others who could ruin your social life in one second.

I heard the footsteps come closer and closer, until the people who had made the footsteps were right in front of my locker.  
I peered through a space in the door. I recognized the boys who passed my locker. I didn't know their names, but I did know they both had a crush on Platina. I wondered if she had sent these boys after the threatened person.

While I was lost in thought, I didn't notice the footsteps were gone.  
I peered through the space again, and decided that it was safe to come outside of my hiding place. I slowly opened my locker and went out.

I ran to the place I thought what I just witnessed had happened.  
Slowly looking around the corner, I could see a girl sitting on the floor.

''Sapphire?'' The brunette's eyes widened, and she quickly turned her head in my direction and slowly looked up. ''Are you ok?''

''...Y-yeah, I'm fine.''

''You sure? I heard what those guys said to you.''

''Ah, those are just brain dead bastards, don't worry.''

''Why did they say all that to you?''

''Um... When I walked to class earlier, I heard Platina say something about my papa. Something mean. I don't like it when people offend others who try hard and don't deserve to be disliked. People like my papa. So I kind of... slapped her.'' I blinked, and then all of a sudden burst out laughing.

''Blue? You ok?'' After a few seconds I was able to talk normally again, and answered her question, ''Y-yes, I'm fine. It's just that I've wanted to slap her for a while, but didn't have the courage and, in my opinion, reason to. And then you show up, and just slap her in the face!'' I was still giggling for a bit, until I remembered why I was sitting on the floor with Sapphire.

''I'm sorry for that.''

''It's ok, it was kind of funny if you look at it that way.''

''...Um... That boy those guys were talking about was Ruby, wasn't it?''

''Yeah, it was.''

''So what are you going to do?''

''What _can_ I do?''

''Probably just doing what those guys said is best. You wouldn't want to involve Ruby in this, right?''

''Well, he _is_ kind of involved now.''

''Good point.''  
After a few minutes she said, ''You're right. It'd be best to try to avoid more of this.''

''Ok then. Come on, let's go back to class.'' I stood up and held out my hand to her.

''Hey, Blue. Thanks.'' She said while grabbing my hand and being pulled up by me.

''Anytime.'' All of a sudden, the bell rang.

''Oh crap...'' I said.

''What is it?''

''I asked if I could go to the toilet a half an hour ago.''

''I didn't come to class at all.''

''Ok, so we're both screwed.''

''Pretty much.''

When we arrived at the class, my friends were just coming out of the door. ''Hey, you guys.''

Red handed my bag over. ''Thanks!''

''What did you do, Blue?'' He asked.

''I helped a friend.'' I said, like it was normal to say you need to go to the toilet and not come back at all.

''What do you mean?'' Yellow asked.

''I'll tell you another time.'' I told them with a smile.

''Let's get walking, then.'' Red said.

''What class is up next, then?'' I asked them.

''It's gym class.'' Green replied. We walked into the direction of the changing rooms.

''Argh, I _hate_ gym class. It's so useless and boring.'' I was sulking in the girls changing-room.

''Come on, what kind of purpose does it have anyway? It's not like anyone's willing to have some stupid job which has to do with sports. Why would anyone do this for fun, has the whole world gone NUTS?'' Yellow giggled into her fist. Yay, another person who laughs at my mood.

''Um, excuse me?'' We both looked in the direction where the voice came from.

''Hey Sapphire!'' I was surprised, we didn't talk much.

''I need your help with something...''

''Go ahead!'' Yellow said smiling. She was encouraging the brunette, since she looked uncomfortable. Sapphire didn't talk to other girls very much, her friends were all boys.

''...Um, I can't find my sneakers. Could you help me look for them?'' She said. She sounded embarrassed.  
It was funny how, even though she was normally a tomboy who liked to fight and wasn't afraid of anything, she now reminded me of Yellow, who was shy and quiet. It caused me to smile a little.

''Hohoho! There's no need to ask so politely! You know we'd help whatever was wrong, because we're cool like that.'' My mood had brightened again, and Sapphire seemed to be more comfortable now, too. After about ten minutes we still failed to find her shoes and all of the other girls were now gone to the field.

''Are you sure they're here, Sapphire?'' Yellow asked. I could see she was getting worried about coming late.

''I thought so...'' Sapphire said, ''But I don't want to cause you guys trouble, so I'm just going to check the lockers, and if they aren't in there I'll just go with my casual shoes, ok?''

She walked over to the lockers, and opened them one by one. When she opened the last one in the row, she let out a small shriek. I looked at Yellow, she was looking concerned. She started walking to Sapphire, ''What is it, Sa-''

I was now standing beside Sapphire. When I looked into the locker, I was confused at first. ''What is that?''

''Those are my sneakers.''

My eyes widened. Her sneakers laid at the bottom of the locker, but it looked like whoever did this, even though who that was isn't hard to guess, had stuffed them with old canteen food, water, mud and had even slightly burnt them. Yellow's and Sapphire's expressions were alike. They both looked at the sneakers like they were some kind of alien corpse.  
I noticed there was a note underneath the sneakers, and picked it up.

When I unfolded it, I noticed it said just two words:  
_'Prepare yourself.'_

* * *

_Well, please enjoy the next chapter!_


	4. Chapter 3

''W-what's...'' Yellow stammered.

''This,'' Sapphire said, ''-is BULLSHIT!''

Both Yellow and me backed away from Sapphire a little. I'd seen her mad a few times, and believe me... When she was truly pissed off, you'd need more than a dozen bodyguards to keep her from killing you.

''Sapphire, calm down. We'll find a way to discuss this with the person who did this to your shoes.'' Yellow whispered.

''Ah, but there's no need to! It seems like they are in for a WOIII, they are the ones who started this.'' She said while grinning deviously.

''Hey, Sapph... You're kind of scaring me now.'' I said.

''Don't worry, you guys. Just go to the field, I'll take care of this... _misunderstanding_.''

''Yeah, that's ok.'' I started walking into the direction of the door, dragging Yellow along with me.

''...But Blue...!'' She tried to stop me while pouting like a puppy.

''Believe me, Yellow. I've been in the same class as Sapphire for a few years now, and this is the point where we get out of here as fast as possible.'' I whispered.

She probably understood, since she allowed me to drag her with me all the way to the field.  
Our sports coach, miss Maylene, already stood at the iron gateway with her arms crossed. Next to her were Green and Red, both looking like we'd be dead in a few minutes, and judging miss Maylene's expression, this could be the case.

Her short, bubblegum pink hair was sticking to her forehead, drenched with sweat, and her pink eyes were crimson with anger right now.

Her huge character change was a bit shocking to me, she went from her ordinary cheerful, shy personality to a she-hulk in a few seconds.

''Um, hi miss Mayle-'' I started, but she interrupted. After that she must have spent half an hour just yelling at us about how she hated people coming late, and making Yellow and me run many useless laps.

I wasn't very good at running laps though, so after a few minutes I was looking at Yellow's back while I started to pant like some kind of old man. After a few minutes of lowering my speed, There seemed to be another person behind me, wanting to catch up. I started to increase my speed, that was so _not_going to happen! Suddenly I heard a voice on my left, ''You ok?''

I looked in the direction where the voice came from and noticed that Green was running next to me. I tried to control my panting, and began to run faster while coughing out, ''Yeah, sure. Why are you asking?'' as casually as I could.

''You're one of my best friends. Is it not ok for me to be worried about your health?'' He said with an annoyed tone. He probably was disappointed in me because I didn't show any appreciation for him running all this way to me. After a few minutes of running I managed to put my pride aside and speak to him.

''Green...''

''What is it?'' He asked, still annoyed.

''...Thanks.'' I said, grinning at him.

''You're welcome.'' He said, I could hear he was smiling. A few minutes later I started wondering if Yellow had finished running already. I looked in the direction of the rest of our class. I couldn't spot Yellow, but I did spot Platina, she was following us with her eyes and her expression wasn't a happy one.

''Your girlfriend doesn't seem to like the idea of you helping me.'' I told him.

''...I already told her we're just friends.'' This caused me to lower the speed for a bit.  
You gotta be kidding me, Platina was worried _I_ was going to steal Green away from _her_?

After a few minutes my panting became louder, my cheeks hotter and my legs heavier.  
I didn't even need to ask Green if he could run a little slower, he slowed down himself, without me asking.

''Do we need to rest for a bit?'' He asked while looking at me.

''No way, I'm gonna run all 20 laps in once!'' I said stubbornly. He sighed. His sigh didn't just sound annoyed though, it sounded amused too.

''What is it?''

''You're the most stubborn person I know.''

''And I'm proud of it.'' After a few more minutes I started to slow down. He looked at me.

''You alright?'' He asked, but there was really no need to since my red head and trembling legs seemed to say it all.

''My throat hurts.'' Was all I could say, even though my lungs felt like they could blow up every moment and my legs seemed to be made of jelly. Suddenly he started to increase speed. ''That's ok, I'll see you on the finish line.''

And he ran straight up to the rest of our class. What was he doing? I didn't know why he was like this, but I was so _not_ going to let him win. I ran faster. Even though my legs seemed to be screaming for mercy I didn't even feel it. After a few seconds I ran past Green, while screaming,

''See you at the finish line, sucker!'' Over my shoulder and laughing like a maniac.  
I even caught up on Yellow, even though I didn't notice. My legs were now so sore that I didn't feel any pain anymore.

'It wouldn't hurt much to just continue running, would it?' I kept telling myself. Until, after what seemed like two seconds, I suddenly bumped into something with incredible force.

''Ow!'' I cried, while slowly looking up at the thing I had ran into.  
I looked straight into the surprised pink eyes from miss Maylene.

''Why, hello blue!'' She chirped, being her usual cheerful self again. ''I don't remember you being so good at running!''

A few seconds later Yellow and Green arrived at the finish line.

''Ah! Blue, you did such a good job!'' Yellow said, smiling.  
When I looked at Green, I saw he was grinning. I raised my eyebrow, until suddenly I understood why he was grinning. My jaw dropped. He laughed at my stupid expression.

''...Wait, this was your intention, wasn't it?'' I said, still panting. He ran a hand through his hair while mumbling, ''...Well, duh.''

When I recovered from the shock, I muttered ''I'm impressed!''

''You truly didn't know?'' He asked with his usual bored tone. His smirk revealed the fact that he was actually amused, though. I didn't answer. I was too ashamed. How could it be that I, who had been able to fool every single person I ever met from the moment I was born, had just been tricked?

Suddenly a person with raven hair and red eyes came running towards the three of us.

''Hi Red!'' Yellow greeted him.

''Hey there!'' He said.  
Red held out his hand to me. ''Well done.'' He complimented us. I accepted his hand and pulled myself up. Red and Green walked towards the rest of our class, who were currently busy playing soccer.

''Has Sapphire shown up yet?'' I asked Yellow. She slowly shook her head.

''Should we go check on her? Who knows what she is doing right now!'' I asked, panicking.

''Leave it to me.'' Yellow said. Before I could say something, she had already ran towards miss Maylene.

''...Ah, um... Miss?'' I could hear her say with a nervous tone.

''What is it, Yellow?'' Miss Maylene turned her head towards the small blonde, smiling.

''...Would it be ok if I used the toilet?'' I could see that miss Maylene completely fell for the trick. ''But of course!''

What's with the character changes today? Turns out even Yellow can play tricky when she wants to. She ran past me while smiling at me, being her usual innocent self again. I looked around the class, and noticed Ruby, Sapphire's best friend, wasn't focused on the soccer game.  
This was the fourth time I had seen him getting hit by the ball. It wasn't like he loved gym class, but that didn't do anything about the fact that he was good at it. Well, normally.

''Ruby, is there anything on your mind?'' I heard miss Maylene ask him.

''No, I am perfectly fine.''

''You should just sit down in the duck-out for a while anyway, ok? Blue can get you some water, she's still recovering from running those laps anyway.'' I groaned. Come on, my condition wasn't _that _bad.

I sat down next to Ruby anyway, though. I looked at his hat. ''You don't even put it off in gym class?''

Wait. That was a stupid way to start a conversation. He didn't seem to mind, ''Nope.''  
After a few minutes of silence I got sick of it.

''So... Want some water?'' I asked, hoping he would talk some more. I didn't like having to force someone to talk.

''Nah, I didn't even do much.''

''Then why were you hit by the ball all the time?'' He didn't respond, so I went straight to the point.

''Worried about Sapphire much?''  
He turned his head to me with incredible speed. It kind of scared me.

''No.'' He said with an uncertain tone.

''Well, that wasn't very convincing.'' I laughed teasingly.

''Don't worry though. My friend Yellow is checking on her right now.''  
He seemed to relax. I liked teasing him, he didn't outsmart me like Green did. He kind of reacted like Red on my teasing, that made Red one of the persons I tricked almost daily.

''You like her, don't you?''

''NO!'' He yelled, causing every person on the playing field to look in his direction.  
Ok, so this was too much fun.

''I knew it!'' I chirped. His cheeks was completely colored red right now.

''So, want me to ask her if she likes you?'' I was convinced he'd react the same way he had done a few minutes ago.

I was right.

''NO!'' He yelled again.

''Why would I like her? She's like a barbarian, when she first came to this school she was dressed like damn _Tarzan_! I had to teach her how to dress properly!'' He told me, while turning his head away from me. ''I wouldn't even know what there is to like about her.''

_Denial._

''You keep telling yourself that, honey.'' I said while pinching his cheek. Before he could respond, Yellow returned while pulling Sapphire along.

''Hey there!'' I greeted them, still pinching Ruby's cheek with one hand and waving at the girls with my other one.

''So what did you do about y-'' I started, but Sapphire quickly covered my mouth with her hand, and frantically stuttered, ''-My... Um... Lost shirt? Ah, I lend one from the lost and found.''

I raised my eyebrow at her, but played along anyway.

''Ah, ok! I was already wondering if you had thought about that in time.'' After an awkward silence, Ruby said ''What's up with you? You are acting weir-''

But he was cut off by Sapphire who yelled, ''_So!_ Wanna play soccer for a bit?''

She took his hand and dragged him to the rest of our class. I looked at Yellow almost demanding an explanation, but she shrugged. ''I don't know what she did. Though I wonder why she didn't want to know Ruby?''

I did know that last one, though. She didn't want to worry him. I heard some friends of Platina threatening Sapphire by telling her that if she didn't obey them they would tell Ruby's father about the clubs he was joining without his father knowing. I felt sorry for Sapphire. I felt sorry for Green, too. If, for some reason, he would dump her... Would he be treated like this too?

''Blue? Are you ok?'' I heard Yellow ask me. I noticed I had a pained look on my face.

'Crap!'

''Yeah, of course! I was just... Thinking about Sapphire's weird behavior.''

I noticed by the look she gave me that she didn't believe me for one bit. But before she could ask me some more questions, I was saved by the rest of the students leaving the playing field.

''Sorry, Yellow! I have to hurry!'' I told her smiling and ran off as fast as I could.

At the end of the day, every other student was watching the football game which was now going on outside. It was Friday, and Red and I were still in the school library. We had to finish a project for History class.

That was not the only reason I wasn't out to watch the game, though. The main reason was that Platina was the head cheerleader, and I wasn't exactly in the mood to see her jumping around and making crazy moves that I could never even _dream_ of being able to do.

''What about this one?'' Red pulled a book out of one of the book shelves like he had done over thirty times already in one hour. Even though it didn't seem like it: I was the smart one, so I ended up doing most of the project while he was pretending to be useful. It was kind of funny, actually.

''You know what? Why don't you look up some pictures for our project?'' I suggested.

I was just making up something for him to do so I could go on with our project, though. I had already collected enough pictures. He probably knew what I was doing, because he reluctantly walked over to the corner where the computers were. When he turned on one of the computers, I heard a soft _beep_ and after a few seconds he called out my name.

''Hey, Blue?''

''What is it?'' I asked, wanting to just finish the project and go home.

''I just got a text message from Green. Platina asked him if they could go to a club tonight, but she's bringing some friends and told him that he could invite some too. Yellow is coming, and now he's asking us.''

I dropped the pen I was holding. I was actually in the mood for some dancing. ''Yeah, sure. Sounds fun.'' I told him.

After what felt like ages, I finally put the last word on paper and stretched my fingers.

''Done!'' I yelled in Red's direction. He didn't reply, so I stood up to look at him. He was sitting on his chair, but his head was resting on the table. He was snoring loudly.

''Geez, I was the one doing all the boring things, you have no reason to be sleeping, you douchebag.'' I said, smiling. I didn't feel like waking him up nicely, though. So I just threw a book at his head.

''Ow!'' He cried out when the book hit the back of his head.

''I'm leaving, are you coming with me?''

''Sure!'' He said, slowly raising his head from the desk. I just picked up my back and swung it over my shoulder, walking towards the door. He caught up on me when I walked into the hallway, where we ran into Yellow. She had just been watching the game, but she had left early because she didn't find it all that interesting. We cycled home together, and since I was the one living the closest to school, I waved them goodbye while they cycled to their homes.

''See you tonight, Blue!'' My friends said, waving. I turned to my house. When I noticed there was a note on the front door, I quickly started walking towards it.  
When I was close enough to be able to read it, this was what it said:

_''Blue,_  
_Your dad and me won't be home tonight, since your aunt Anne has just given birth to a son._  
_Silver is staying at a friend's home, so you'll be alone. I promise it will be for just one night._  
_There are some leftovers in the fridge, you can eat those._  
_When you feel like talking to one of us, just call me on my cell phone._

_Love, mom.''_

There was a phone number written down on the back of the note. Yeah right, like I would need that.

Well, good timing for that! Now I wouldn't have to be home at twelve o'clock like usually.

I didn't feel like picking an outfit out six hours before I actually went to the club like Platina probably did, so I just sat down in the living room, feeling like writing a song. I started on it, and quite some time passed until I remembered to watch the clock because of my grumbling stomach.

'Right, seven o'clock. time to eat.'

I stood up, overlooking the song I had just written. I was actually quite pleased with it. I walked to the kitchen, humming my song. When I looked into the fridge, I noticed the only thing lying in there was some old broccoli and spaghetti.  
_'Seriously, does that woman want to kill me?'  
_I didn't have a choice, so I just put it into the microwave and adjusted it a little bit so my food wouldn't blow up when I was in the living room. After I ate, I was just sitting on the couch. I turned on the television and started watching a few cheap comedy series, which for some reason made me laugh uncontrollably.

When I looked on the clock again, I noticed it was half past 10 o'clock already.  
'Crap! I've only got an hour to get ready!'

I rushed upstairs to look for something to wear so I wouldn't look like a _total _fool. When I looked in my closet, there was just one thing I found suitable. It was a black dress with a high collar. My mom had bought me it when I had just escaped, as a 'welcome-home' present. I took it out of the closet and put it on my bed. When I had put it on and looked into the mirror, I found there was something missing.  
I looked into my closet again, and found a pair of white boots and matching white gloves. After putting on the whole set, I felt really excited. It didn't look all that bad! After putting in some curlers, and putting on some mascara I just waited for my hair to curl. Though after a few minutes the bell rang.

'Shit!'

Since my friends were already here I removed the curlers. My hair looked a little weird because it only curled at the ends, but it had a funny effect too. I didn't have any time to change it anyway, so with that in mind I rushed down the stairs and opened the door.

Outside were my friends. They didn't look like they had put much effort in their looks, so I felt a bit ashamed. Yellow had put on an orange pullover, a short skirt and some orange knee-length socks, Red was still wearing the same clothes he wore today, jeans with a black shirt and a vest, and Green was wearing jeans with a sweater. He didn't wear anything special, just like Red and Yellow, but I thought he looked amazingly hot. It made me sweaty.

''Hey there, you guys!''

''Hi. You coming? Platina's limousine is waiting there.'' Green said. He pointed his finger to a huge, black, shiny limousine. My jaw dropped for the second time today. The car was so big I was sure my whole family could live a long, happy life in it. I looked at Green again. He looked nervous. Then I looked back at the car.  
''You serious?'' I said slowly. It was not like I was poor, I just wasn't used to this stuff. Yellow shrugged her shoulders, while Red just broadly smiled at me. It seemed like he wanted to say something like: 'Just shut up and enjoy this, since we're obviously not going to have a chance to sit in a fat car like this ever again.'

I sighed and closed the door of my house. ''Ok then.''

My friends turned around too, and we all walked into the direction of the car, obviously none of us was feeling very comfortable.

_'Nah, I shouldn't make such a fuss.'_ I thought to myself. _'Tonight will probably be fun anyways.'_

...Boy was I wrong.

* * *

_So… That was it!_

_Well… not 'it' as in: the end of the fiction, but as in: 'The last chapter I'm going to post on this…er… 16th of December.'_

_Next week and the week after that I have Christmas vacation though, so I might just write some more!_

_My beta, I mean. I'm done writing chapter eight already XD_

_Sooooo… If you want to complain, complains can be sent to Usa._

_Don't worry, she can handle it. D_

_Please review!_

_~Lion3queen_


	5. Chapter 4

_Well, the BETA-ing took so long, I decided on doing it myself… Please excuse my grammar mistakes, I'm Dutch… XD_

_I wanted to thank you all for still reading my fan fiction, even though I've never met anyone who updates this slowly. Especially since I've actually finished chapter twelve already!_

_Enjoy!_

_~Lion3queen_

* * *

''Whoa!'' I sighed in amazement.  
The black limousine stopped in front of the biggest building I had ever seen. Every inch of it was enlightened by enormous spotlights, and there was a huge line with people in front of it.  
As I slowly put one of my legs out of the big car, I could feel the bass from the music that was playing inside of the club pounding through my body.  
I looked at the sky. The sun had just set, but there was still a ray of pink clouds visible above the buildings. I closed my eyes, and felt the cool summer breeze against my skin.  
''Hello?! May we please go out, too?'' Diamond asked me teasingly.  
''Dunno, I like sitting here actually.''  
He laughed, and pushed me out of the car.  
My friends, Platina and the people she had invited, Diamond and Pearl, followed behind.  
The atmosphere in the limousine had been very tense. The only person I had spoken to aside of my own friends was Diamond. He was a nice guy, really. He loved to eat. Our conversations had mainly been about food, noticing that was kind of the only thing we had in common.  
''Nice, eh?'' Pearl said proudly.  
''Yes it is!'' Yellow giggled. It was nice to see that she had decided to talk with other people from us, too.  
Platina hadn't spoken a word since I had gotten into the car.  
She didn't seem very happy.  
Green had been looking at her for the last fifteen minutes, but not with amazement or something like that, he looked at her with annoyance.  
_'Wait, annoyance?' _  
I looked at him worriedly.  
''Hey! You three! Are you coming?!'' I heard a voice call out to us. I blinked, and noticed everyone but Green, Platina and me had already walked to a red door with a sign that said 'V.I.P.'. Platina flipped her raven hair and walked towards them. Green sighed and also walked on. He stopped, though. ''You coming?'' He asked me over his shoulder.  
''...Um, yeah!'' I ran to him. We walked over to the rest of the people.  
''Hey, Green?'' I asked him uncertainly.  
''What is it?''  
''Did you and Platina have a fight?''  
''...'' He didn't answer me.  
I looked at him.  
It seemed that he couldn't find the right words.  
Suddenly he answered me, ''don't worry about it.''  
I was stunned. 'Don't worry about it'? What kind of answer was that?!  
I didn't tell him this though.  
''Man, you guy's are so slow!'' Pearl sighed.  
''Maybe you're just fast.'' I told him. He laughed.  
''Yeah, that could be the case.''

A tall man with a black suit opened the door for us.  
As we stepped into the heat of the building, a sigh escaped my lips for the second time this evening, ''Whoa!''.  
The room we entered -although you could hardly call it a room- was huge.  
It was mostly dark, but the dance floor was enlightened with many spotlights in different colours.  
There were smaller rooms built on poles, with big couches on them.  
The stairs that lead to them were also decorated with many lights.  
The bar in the middle of the dance floor was round, and also enlightened with coloured lights. On top of it was the DJ's turntable. Right now there was a guy on it. He looked like he was about our age.  
''Well, what're we standing out here for?'' Red asked. He walked straight up to the dance floor. Pearl and Yellow followed behind.  
''I'll be on one of those couches, if you're looking for me.'' Diamond smiled sheepishly while pointing to one of the rooms on poles.  
''What're you guys going to do? I asked Green and Platina.''  
They were silent for a moment.  
''Well? Aren't you going to ask me to dance?'' Platina suddenly asked.  
Her voice was different from what I had expected. I had expected it to be annoying and squeaky, but it was calm and...  
-a Kind of lonely.  
I suddenly realised this was the first time I heard her talk. Well, I had heard her sing of course... But people's voices always sound different when they sing from when they talk.  
''I'll ask you when I feel like making a fool of myself in front of a bunch of people, thank you very much.'' He said.  
...That was kinda harsh, wasn't it?  
I then noticed I probably wasn't meant to be here right now, so I turned around and walked up to the bar.  
''Hey there.'' A boy with brown said while I sat down on a bar stool.  
''You know, I don't think I have ever seen someone with Green eyes this beautiful.'' He said, wiggling his eyebrows at me.  
''My eyes are blue, thank you very much.'' I said.  
''Aw, come on... Don't be like that. Here, have a drink. This one's on me.'' He said.  
'I'll be like whatever the hell I want.' I thought. I liked the sound of a free drink, though. So I answered, ''Yeah, why not.''  
''Two beers, please.'' He called out to the barkeeper.  
''What's your name anyway?'' He asked me.  
''Anne.'' I said.  
Geez, he wasn't thinking I'd actually tell him my name, was he?  
''Alright then, Anne. I'm Peter. You can call me Pete, though.''  
Ok, so he was.  
He passed my drink over to me when the barkeeper put it on the bar.  
''So... Can I have your phone number?''  
''Sure.'' I said. Just playing dumb was best on these guys. If I rejected him at once, he'd probably follow me around all evening. I pretended to search my pockets, and then sighed. ''Too bad, seems like I don't have a pen on me.''  
''Don't worry, I have one.'' He smirked at me while he handed me over a white ball pen.  
I sighed. Didn't this guy care I didn't want him?  
I wrote down the number I had remembered being on a note on our refrigerator. I believe it was from a restaurant or something.  
''Ok, then. I'll call you!'' He said, winking at me.  
_'You bet.'_ ''Yeah, ok.''  
He then stood up. I looked at him walking away. Suddenly he stopped to talk to another girl. It looked like he used the exact same lines on her as he used on me.

People kept talking to me, asking my phone number and offering me drinks for about an hour.  
At a certain point I got so annoyed that I just glared at every person that came a bit too close to the bar stools next to me.  
''Is this seat taken?'' I heard someone ask me.  
_'...Not again...'_ I turned around to face the person that dared to hit on me, already glaring.  
For some reason my vision was getting more blurred with the minute.  
It took me a while to notice the person that was talking to me was Green.  
''What're you glaring at me for?'' He asked me, raising an eyebrow.  
''...Never mind. It's just that... Guys have been hitting on me and offering me drinks all night.''  
''Huh?'' He looked at me again. ''How many beers have you been drinking?''  
I giggled. ''I lost the count at fifteen.'' I laughed at him sheepishly.  
''What?! You drank over fifteen drinks offered by people you don't even know?! _They could have put something dangerous in your drink!_''  
''Like what, ice cubes?'' I giggled at my own joke.  
From what I could see, Green was rubbing his temples with a furious expression.  
''Hey, you!'' He called out to the barkeeper.  
''Huh?'' The man said.  
''What are you, brain dead?! Didn't you notice how people kept offering her beers all night?''  
''Like I care. If she didn't want to get drunk, why the hell did she come to this bar?''  
He started to show signs that made me suspicious he could attack the barkeeper any moment.  
''Ehehehe, Green! Why're you so mad? The drinks were nice!'' I told him with a goofy smile on my face.  
He looked at me for a few seconds.  
''You. Are. Going. Home. _Now_.'' He slowly said, he looked like he was desperately trying to control his temper.  
He took me by my arm, but I couldn't think or walk properly, so I tripped over my own feet.  
He pulled me up roughly.  
It hurt, but all I could do was laugh like an idiot.  
After walking through the mass of people for a while, he stopped walking.  
I tripped again, and then slowly looked up. -Not that I_ could _move any faster than this at the moment.-  
I Could see Green was talking to Red.  
The raven haired boy looked at me, and then nodded.  
''Hi, Red.'' I said. Again giggling. He probably couldn't hear me because of the volume of the music, though.  
Suddenly the room seemed to change colour. I laughed, ''ehehehe, colours.''  
When I looked up again, I noticed Red was gone.  
Green looked at me, and then pulled me up. More gently this time.  
''We're going. Red'll tell the rest.''  
''Going where? I was just having fun!'' I told him, blinking my eyes in surprise.  
He sighed and pulled me with him, while walking towards the door.

''Shit, looks like we have to walk.'' He said.  
''Why don't we take a bus?''  
''You try finding a bus at 2 am.''  
''Ok!'' I chirped, trying to run to a bus stop.  
He grabbed my arm to stop me.  
''That was sarcasm.'' He sighed.  
''Oh, right.'' I giggled.  
Green started walking.  
It wasn't a very nice walk for him.  
He had to pull me up every thirty seconds, and half-drag me to my house.

''You're such a nice friend, Green!'' I told him happily.  
''What was I supposed to do, leave you there until you get raped by some old pervert?''  
''I was giving you a compliment, you know.'' I told him.  
''Yeah, but there's no need to say thanks since you probably won't remember tonight tomorrow anyway. And oh, yeah. Expect a major headache and the need to throw up all day.''  
''...I don't understand.''  
''Of course you don't, you're drunk.''  
I pulled my arm loose and turned around to face him.  
''What now?'' He turned around, too.  
''Why are you so mean to me? I didn't do anything to you, yet you're treating me like dirt all evening.''  
He blinked.  
Suddenly his expression changed from annoyed to sad.  
He was quiet for a while.  
''...Since you'll forget everything tomorrow anyway, I might as well tell you.''  
''Tell me what?''  
He paused, and then said, ''That Platina is mad at me for hanging out with you too much. Actually, she told me that if I'm alone with you one more time, she'll break up with me. And here we are.'' He sounded quite desperate.  
I was quiet for a while.  
I then said, ''...She... Told you that?''  
I was surprised. She told him that, and he _took_ it?  
''Were you planning on just stopping being friends with me after sixteen years? because of your _girlfriend_?''  
I couldn't see his face since it was too dark, but he probably wasn't looking very happy.  
''I don't understand... Is this what our friendship means to you?'' Even though I was plain drunk, according to what Green told me, I still felt emotions. His words, for example, hurt. It was like someone had stabbed me with a knife.  
I noticed that my vision became even more blurry than it already was. Was I crying?  
''No...'' His voice sounded strange, like he didn't get enough air, ''...Actually I was planning on breaking up with her.''  
''...'' I didn't know what to say.  
''...Thank you...'' was all I could think of.  
I was now totally sure I was crying. And not just teardrops, but the tears were actually_ pouring_ down my face.  
Well, at least it wasn't thundering.  
_''CRASH!'' _  
The irony.  
Small, cold droplets started falling down. Uncertainly at first, but then the sky roared and started raining down.  
''...W-Why does your voice sound so weird?'' I asked him.  
''Because I'm trying to stop myself from crying like some kind of little girl, you idiot.''  
''Don't. It's raining, no one will notice.''

''Shit, I have to get you home or you will get sick!''  
''Don't worry! I'll be slow anyway, you know I'm bad at running, and I'll probably keep tripping. I'll get sick anyway.''  
''...Then there's only one option.''  
'Huh? What was he going to-...'  
''Wha-?!'' Was all I could say when he lifted me up in his arms.  
Even though I was plain drunk, that didn't stop me from blushing heavily.  
I was glad He didn't see it because of the rain.  
''Put me down! I'm heavy!''  
''No you aren't.'' He sighed, before muttering something that sounded like, ''...women...''  
Green started running as the storm continued.

After a while of hiding my face in my hands so he couldn't see I was blushing, I saw our houses in the distance.  
''There's my house!'' I chirped, waving my hands in the air as if to tell my house we were almost there.  
''...Don't...Move...like that... or I'll drop you...''  
Knowing Green, he was serious, so I just shut up.  
We were coming closer and closer, until suddenly we entered the front garden.  
He put me down, as I tried to find my keys.  
I was very slow because of all the beer, though. ''Here they are. Oh wait!'' I told him, after I had dropped my keys on the ground.  
''Ehehehe.'' I giggled, picking up my keys and slowly unlocking the door.  
As soon as we heard a small '_click!' _Green opened the door and helped me go in without tripping.  
''Just go to the living room and sit down, ok? I'll get you something to drink.''  
''Right.''  
I clumsily walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.  
Too bad that I was only sober for a few seconds, being drunk was no fun.  
Even though I felt stupid right now, and slow too... I couldn't stop laughing.  
I noticed I started shivering. ''I'm cold.''  
''What?!'' Green yelled from the kitchen.  
''I said I'm cold!''  
He entered the living room, threw a towel at my head and put down a cup of tea in front of me.  
''Thank you!'' I said, smirking at him.  
''Hey, Green.''  
''What is it?''  
''Why did you have to cry just yet?''  
''I didn't!''  
''You were going to!''  
''...It was because she is the person I care for the most, and you are my... best friend...''  
I was quiet for a while.  
...I didn't understand.  
I felt tears drip down my cheeks. Slowly, this time.  
I dropped my head, so my bangs would cover my face and he wouldn't see my tears.  
He did, though. ''...W-what is it?''  
I might as well tell him.  
''...It's so unfair...'' I told him, even though my voice sounded strange.  
''What's unfair?'' He sounded surprised.

He stood up from the chair he was sitting on, and sat down on the couch, next to me.  
''...How come... We've been friends for sixteen years, and in two months... You have come to care about her more than me in al those years?''  
''W-what... How do you mean?''  
''Just answer!'' I asked, sobbing like crazy and covering my face with my hands, which caused my voice to sound even stranger.  
He was thinking for a while, and then answered me, ''...I care about you in a different way.''  
''...Why?!''

''...Why?! She doesn't make you happy, I can see it in your eyes!''

''...If you love her so much, just go tell her. I'm tired of this drama! You love her! Don't accept her dumping you so easy, you... you... _Jerk_!''

All at once, he turned me around and put his arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace.  
''I can't stand watching you cry. Even if you don't know what you're doing or saying.''  
I didn't know what to say, so I just kept quiet.  
After a while, he pulled away.  
''You should sleep. But just so you know, when you wake up you'll feel like someone has just thrown up on top of you.''  
I still didn't know anything to say, so I just stood up, and tried to walk to the hallway as casually as possible.  
I didn't do a very good job.  
Actually, I fell down for the 1000th time tonight and he managed to grab my arm just in time.  
''Thanks.'' I said, and nodded stiffly.  
I opened the door for him.  
''You sure you won't fall of the stairs and break a leg?''  
''No.'' I said, and tried closing the door. He put his foot in the doorway, though, and walked back in.  
''I will not take that risk.''  
''Ok.'' I said and tried to walk the stairs.  
This had been the most important reason I wanted him to leave, because I actually had to crawl the stairs to not fall down.  
He was laughing at me right now.  
''You should have just left.'' I snapped.  
''And miss this? Yeah right!''  
After about fifteen minutes I finally succeeded in climbing the stairs and get into my room.  
''Can I now be sure that you won't break anything?''  
''Yeah, I guess so.''  
''Ok then, see you tomorrow!''  
''Yep, bye.'' I said, climbing into my bed while still wearing my boots.  
He grinned at me, before closing the door.  
I listened to his footsteps and waited until I heard the door slam.  
I finally let out the deep sigh that I had been saving for fifteen minutes.

_

* * *

_

_Well, a drunk Blue! How surprising! ;D_

_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I promise I'll update faster from now on!_

_Please reply, it encourages me. _

_~Lion3queen  
_


	6. Chapter 5

_...Beep... ...Beep...__  
_  
''Shut up.''

_...Beep... ...Beep..._

''SHUT UP! What's wrong with you?!''

_...Beep... ...Beep..._

After a few minutes I was awake enough to realise I was actually talking to an alarm clock.  
I opened my eyes for a bit and groaned.  
_'Why does my head hurt like this?' __  
_I lifted up my head and tried to sit, but all of a sudden the pain in my head became worse causing me to fall on my back again.  
''ouch!''  
Nice, now my back hurt too.  
I tried to sit again, but more slowly this time.  
I put my legs out of bed, and wondered why I couldn't remember anything that had happened last night.  
_'...Um... Oh, yeah! We went to a club!'_  
I tried to remember more, but I couldn't.  
I groaned again, looking around in my room. That was when I noticed the note on my bedroom door.  
I slowly got up from my bed and walked towards the door, frantically trying not to lose balance.  
When I was close enough to the note, I tried to read it.  
I frowned. Reading was more difficult than it was normally.  
After a few minutes I had finally succeeded in reading it.  
_''Hey Blue,_  
_You're probably wondering why you can't remember anything from last night._  
_I can tell you, just come to my house whenever you like._

_Green.''_

I didn't have a choice.  
I couldn't think very clearly because of the bad headache I had, so I just put on the first sweater I found.  
That was when I noticed I was still wearing the black dress I had put on before going to the club.  
I raised my eyebrow, but told myself that Green would tell me.

''-What do you think, Blue?''  
I blinked. ''Eh?'' I asked stupidly.  
''Which one of these plants can cure a stomach ache?'' Mrs Erika repeated.  
I looked at the names of plants that were written on the black chalk board.  
'Lavender', 'mint' and 'jasmine' I read.  
''Err...'' Was all I could say while I flipped through the pages of my Biology notebook.  
I nervously looked at Mrs. Erika's face. She slowly raised an eyebrow at me.  
''It's in your notes, Blue. Didn't you pay attention?''  
''Well, I was a bit distracted.'' I told her. I refused to give in to my embarrassment. I was stronger than this.  
''Yes, I am sure it was more important than my lessons.'' She said, still smiling at me.  
The sound of her heel tapping on the floor repeatedly gave away the fact that she was getting impatient, though.  
All at once a small folded note fell on my notebook. I peeked at the teacher through my bangs, pretending to think very hard.  
I quickly unfolded the note, reading the word 'mint'.  
I brushed the bangs out of my face, raised my head and smiled.  
''Mint.'' I answered.  
''Well done.'' Mrs Erika said, and she continued explaining the health benefits of plants.  
I turned my head into the direction of the person that was sitting next to me.  
The blonde girl looked at me.  
Worriedly, like always.  
''Thanks, Yellow.'' I said, smiling at the small girl.  
She nodded. But then asked, ''Why weren't you paying attention, Blue? You like Biology normally, don't you?''  
Yes, that was true. My attention had just mainly been focused on this weekend eversince I entered the school building.  
What Green told me was that I had gotten drunk after a few guys offered me drinks and that he had quickly took me home.  
It was strange though, that while those were his exact words, I felt like he had not told me something. Something quite important.  
For example, I swore I could faintly remember that I had cried a few times that night.  
When I asked him though, he quickly answered that I had just walked home with him, though I did fell down a few times.  
That was really everything he had told me, aside from the speech he had given me about never accept drinks from strangers and that I could have been in a coma or worse.  
''Blue?!'' Yellow waved her hand in front of my face. ''Look, now you're spacing out again! Didn't you sleep well last night?''  
''Not really.'' I told her.  
It was true, I had barely slept this weekend. I yawned.  
Before she could ask me anything else, the bell rang, announcing lunch break.

We all picked up our bags and left the classroom.  
''Ah! You guys, look!'' A red haired girl called out to her friends while pointing her finger to a huge poster that was now pinned onto the big notice board in the hallway. The poster was decorated with pictures of dancing people, and big, colourful fonts that formed the words 'School Dance.'  
The girl's friends all cheered.  
''Ah! It's the school dance!'' One of the redhead's friends, a raven haired girl, sighed. The girls all walked to the poster, chattering like crazy.  
I looked at my friends and noticed that Red and Green were already walking into the direction of the canteen.  
Yellow was still standing next to me, though. She was also looking at the huge poster.  
Ruby and Sapphire just walked out of the classroom.  
They were arguing about whether it was going to rain or not.  
...Wait, they were arguing about the weather?  
I couldn't believe how hopeless they were.  
''-The weather forecast said it would be sunny all day!''  
''So?! I told ya' I can sense whether it's going to rain or not, and I say it's going to rain today.''  
''And I told you I don't believe you.''  
''Hmpf, ya'll see la-''  
'_Thud!'_  
I quickly turned my head to the cause of the loud noise, and then noticed that Yellow was lying on the floor.  
''Yellow!'' I cried out.  
She opened her eyes and blinked.  
Then she seemed to notice almost every person in the hallway was looking at her, panicked and tried to get up while waving her arms like crazy and randomly shouting out things like: ''Don't worry! I'm ok! Nothing happened! Please don't look at me! I am sorry to waste your time like this!''  
Everybody sweat dropped, and then went on with what they were originally doing.  
''Ah, I'm such a klutz! You ok?'' Sapphire asked.  
''Of course!'' Yellow smiled.  
''Why were you standing still in the doorpost, anyway?'' Sapphire asked.  
I pointed at the huge poster on the notice board.  
''Ah... A school dance?'' Sapphire asked uncertainly.

The four of us walked to the canteen, and Ruby and Sapphire sat down on the same table we did for a change.  
''I've got some great clothing for the dance.'' Ruby said happily.  
He looked at Sapphire, ''I can make something for you to wear, too. In case you don't have anything.''  
''Hn.'' She answered absentmindedly.  
I was now sitting with Ruby and Sapphire.  
The rest of our friends were standing in line for the canteen food. Red, Green and Yellow were standing in the middle of the line, and it looked like Red was telling the other to some wild story, shouting and gesturing like crazy. I smiled at them. They looked funny.  
The reason I wasn't with them was that my parents weren't exactly the richest people in the world. Ruby and Sapphire had their own reasons, Ruby's parents thought the canteen food wasn't healthy and Sapphire just didn't like it. I searched my bag for my lunch.  
''Ruby, did you just say that you can make clothes yourself?'' I asked bluntly, while seizing the brown paper bag from my bag and putting it down on the table.  
''Yes, and I'm not that bad either!'' Ruby told me proudly. ''When Sapphire and I first came to school here, she was actually walking around in clothes like Tarzan's, so I made her clothes. I still do now, actually... Either she likes my clothing, or she still doesn't know how to dress properly.'' Ruby grinned at me and then turned his head to Sapphire, probably expecting a nudge in the ribs. Sapphire didn't move though, she was staring at the wall on the opposite side of the canteen blankly.  
Ruby blinked. He looked quite confused.  
Then he continued where he left off.  
''But I like sewing as a hobby too, I'm taking sewing cla-...''  
I looked up from my sandwich, not understanding why he had stopped talking without finishing the sentence first.  
Then I remembered I wasn't supposed to know that he took sewing class.  
''...Sewing what?'' I asked, trying to look as dumb as I could.  
Luckily I was a good actress, which came in handy during my time with the mask of ice too.  
''Nothing, forget it.'' He said.  
Right when I was thinking about nagging some more to make my act more believable, Red, Green and Yellow sat down on the cheep plastic benches.

Yellow and Green sat in silence, eating their food, while I was talking with Red.  
Sapphire seemed to have woken up from her 'trance' too, she was now energetically talking to Ruby.  
''No way, Red. You know the Yankees own the Giants badly. They won last time, too.''  
Red snorted. ''Yeah right. That was because half of the team was injured.''  
''...Which was their own fault.''  
Love for baseball was one of the things Red and I had in common. Neither Green or Yellow was interested in it, so we ended up talking about it and going to matches together. The only flaw was that I was a big fan of the New York Yankees, and he supported the Giants.  
''Wait! I forgot to tell you...'' Red started, searching his pockets, ''...I've got tickets for the game Friday!'' He told me happily, with a stupid grin only Red was capable of.  
''Wha-'' I started, gaping at him like an idiot. ''No you didn't!''  
''Yes I did.'' Red answered.  
''Argh! Red, you _have_ to take me with you!'' I practically shouted.  
''Er... I dunno, I _could_ make Green come with me.''  
''You wish.'' I could hear Green mutter under his breath. I wasn't taking any chances though.  
''I'll buy you a Giants scarf.''

''A-and a hat!''

''...and a hotdog?''  
''You're in.'' He smiled triumphantly and gave me one of the tickets.  
I couldn't stop looking at Red smiling. I didn't really notice how stupid I must've been looking until Green snapped, ''What, want him to pet you?''  
''Ah, sorry.'' I muttered. I wondered why he was so annoyed all of a sudden.  
''So, Yellow. Did you think of a date for the prom yet?'' I asked Yellow, since Red was now focussing on his lunch.  
She looked quite flabbergasted at that question, but luckily for her someone interfered.  
''Did I hear the word _date_ there?''  
I sighed, that voice could only belong to one person.  
Yep, I was right. Gold sat down next to me, Silver and Crystal following behind.  
He started talking to Silver though. Something about him probably getting to go to the prom with every girl he wanted.  
The conversation bored me quite quickly, so I started talking to Yellow again. This time not about dates, though... She didn't seem to like that subject. That often didn't stop me, but Yellow was different. She looked so fragile that everybody always felt the need to protect her.  
After I took a bite from my sandwich I frowned.  
I felt like someone was invading my personal space.  
Nope, I wasn't mistaken, Gold was moving to me more closely with every second.  
''Don't move so close to Blue, you freak!'' Silver yelled, trying to drag Gold away.  
''Aw, Why do you guys always think so bad of me?'' Gold asked.  
''Because that's what you are.'' Silver and Crystal said simultaneously.  
Gold snorted and took a bite from his sandwich.  
''Blue doesn't seem to mind, though. Do you, Blue?'' Gold asked with his mouth full of bread.  
He was now smirking at me.  
''Touch me and you'll lose a finger.'' I said coolly.  
There were a few seconds of silence, until suddenly everyone burst out laughing.  
Everyone except Gold of course, he inched away slightly and sat in silence for the rest of lunch break.  
Behind him Silver and Crystal were smiling at me broadly.  
Ok, being mean to Gold seemed to be a good thing, according to everyone's reactions.  
''Yeah right, Ruby. Like anyone'd like to go to the prom with a sissy like you.'' I heard a voice shout.  
_'Oh crap, Sapphire... Don't say things you're going to regret later...'_ I thought, but there would be no use in telling her that here. I wasn't friends with her for a very long time, but I did know that trying to talk her out of things was always a lost case.  
''what do you mean?'' Ruby asked her.  
''Tsk. I mean that most girls like to go to the prom with a _boy_.''  
I turned my head in their direction.  
''Why do you say that?'' Ruby asked. Though Sapphire always teased Ruby with his obsession with clothes, he didn't like to show when he was in pain or sad or something, which was why the hurt tone in his voice surprised me.  
''Because it's _true_.'' Sapphire snorted.  
''Well, I don't think any of the guys would like to go to the prom with a girl who is able to bite his head of.'' Ruby snapped.  
''Want to bet on it?'' Sapphire asked.  
I didn't like where this conversation was going.  
''Sure.'' Ruby answered through gritted teeth.  
''The first one to get a date for the prom is the winner. The loser has to admit they're hopeless losers.'' Sapphire said.  
''Fine.'' Ruby hissed. He then stood up, picked up his back and walked away without eating his lunch first.  
I looked at Sapphire, but couldn't see her face. After a few minutes of silence she just picked up her bag, and walked out of the canteen.

In the days that followed Ruby and Sapphire didn't talk to each other or sit next to each other in class like usually. Ruby now sat in the seat behind Red, while Sapphire was still sitting in her old seat. Now with a Ruby-less table on her left. When it was finally Friday, the day of the big game between the Yankees and the Giants, I had to stay on school for yelling at our History teacher, professor Rowan. I couldn't help it, really! Just because Yellow forgot to do her homework -for like the first time since she came to our school - He started making fun out of her. You can call me whatever you want, but I am _not_ a coward. So yeah, then I stood up and told him that at least she didn't smell like a dead cow. Ok, maybe I shouldn't have told him that... Anyway. Now I was in detention, while all my friends were home already. The stupid thing was that I had to stay in detention until five o'clock, while the game started at six.  
When professor Rowan _finally_ let me go I frantically ran to my locker. Everybody was home already anyway. After putting on my jacket and favourite blue scarf -that Green had got me for Christmas- I walked out of the big school doors.  
I was greeted by a cold breeze and a few brown leaves flying along with it. Every time it seemed like they would touch the ground and lay down, the wind blew underneath it, causing it to fly towards the cloudy sky again.  
I liked the fall. It was my favourite season.  
I noticed it was dusk already when I walked into the direction where I thought I had left my bicycle this morning.  
Because the sky was grey I couldn't see the setting sun like usually, but through a few holes in the thick blanket of clouds, a light shade of orange was visible. The only thing I didn't like from the fall was how you couldn't see the sunset that often. The school was on top of a hill, so the sunset was truly beautiful from here. At times I went to detention intentionally, just to see that. But yeah, that was summer. Yep, the clouds were the thing I hated the most from the fall. Or maybe the rain.  
Before I could even think the whole sentence, I heard the thunder and felt a few cold drops land on my cold cheeks.  
_...Definitely the rain. _  
I resisted the urge to laugh maniacally because of the crazy thing that had taken place a few seconds before. It had almost been funny. _Almost. _  
_..._It would've been funnier if this happened to someone else.  
I searched for my bike for almost fifteen minutes. It wasn't that easy with my bangs blowing into my face all the time, my scarf almost choking me, my vision blurred by the rain, which seemed to pour even worse with every second, and the biting cold, which started to get _really_ annoying.  
When I finally found my bicycle I was soaking wet and shivering uncontrollably. Groaning I climbed on my bike and cycled to the big gate.

When I cycled on the main road, I noticed there weren't many cars about today. Not that I didn't agree with them, of course... I just cycled on the empty road, coughing heavier with every minute.  
I noticed a few headlights that were dimly shining in the distance. I narrowed my eyes.  
Though the rain was blurring my vision, I noticed they weren't moving like they were supposed to. They were swivelling to and from, but still getting closer. They were coming closer a bit too fast, too. In a few seconds I could make out a man sitting in the front chair, obviously singing aloud and having the time of his life. He was steering the driving-wheel with his feet and held a bottle in his hand. My eyes widened. Was he drunk?  
I thought over the options I had. I could either jump of my bicycle, run to the side of the road and wait for the car to pass by, or keep cycling so I would be home as fast as possible.  
Before I even had the time to think everything over carefully, the car swivelled into my direction.  
All I felt was a pain in my legs and the bicycle shoving underneath me before I collided with the ground and everything went black.

_

* * *

_

_Well, hope y'all like drama. ;D_

_~Lion3queen_


	7. Chapter 6

_Hey there, you guys!_

_This chapter will be in Ruby's P.O.V._

_Enjoy!_

_~Lion3queen_

* * *

''Ruby!''  
I groaned.  
''Ruby! Get out of bed, you're going to be late!''  
I grabbed my pillow and put it over my head, so that annoying voice would stop disturbing my sleep.  
I groaned again, as someone grabbed my pillow and snatched it out of my hands.  
The annoying person now walked towards my window.  
''_Good morning, world!_''The person chirped as they opened the curtains.  
I furrowed my brows as small rays of sunlight entered my room.  
As I slowly opened my eyes to let them get used to the light, I recognised my mom standing in front of the window, looking outside.  
''It's unbelievable the weather is this good, isn't it? And after the heavy raining from yesterday!'' She sighed.  
''Yeah, yeah.'' I muttered through clenched teeth as I sat up. I never was a morning person.  
''Geez, Ruby. Hurry up!'' My mom said in her usual high-pitched voice as she threw some clothes at my head.  
''No way, mom. This shirt does _not_ go with that jeans. You're lucky I live in your house.'' I sighed as I got up from my bed.  
''Maybe. But you're lucky too, you'd be doomed if you didn't have someone to wake you everyday.'' She smiled as she walked towards the door. ''Breakfast is ready! Hurry up, ok?'' She called over her shoulder.

I looked out of the windows as my mom gibbered on about the most unimportant things possible.  
We were sitting in her small, old car.  
It was a pretty warm morning for this time of the season, so we had thrown open all the windows and turned on the music.  
Being with my mother was fun. When I was with her, I always felt...  
_...wanted._  
My father and I weren't exactly on good terms with each other.  
He was the owner of a martial arts club, and wanted me to be as talented as his students from the moment I was born.  
I had never liked anything like wrestling or martial arts, I was more interested in sewing. He didn't care though, all he cared about was his stupid martial arts. This all resulted in big conflicts every time we where home at the same time.  
A few of his students now were entered in a nationwide tournament, causing him to be away for three months already.  
This reminded me...  
I turned the radio off. My mom had been singing along so loudly, that when I turned off the radio it took her a few minutes to realise that the music was gone. She blinked, but then turned her head in my direction and asked me, ''What is it, Ruby?''  
''When is Norman going to be home?'' I asked her.  
Ever since our last fight, I _refused_ to call my father 'dad'.  
She bit her lip, ''I don't know... All of his students entered the finals, so he is going to be away for at least a few weeks more.''  
''Ok.'' I didn't miss him or something. I just wondered for how long he'd leave his family alone.  
I looked out of my window again. We passed the trees and houses so quickly that they were nothing but grey, brown and green strokes in a sea of white and blue.

''Where here!'' My mom chirped.  
She always did that, even when I sat only a feet away from her. She reminded me of that girl from my class, Blue.  
That girl also had the urge to scream in somebody's ear, just because she enjoyed to see the victim flinch.  
These 'victims' were her friends Red and Green, mostly.  
...Or me, of course. I had just recently started hanging out with these four people from my class. Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. We weren't exactly friends yet, but we sat together during lunch, and had fun.  
My best friend was Sapphire. We had a fight a few days ago, though. And we hadn't talked ever since.  
''Ruby, no spacing out on my passenger's chair.'' I heard my mom say.  
I stepped out of the car and closed the door.  
The brown haired woman waved at me happily, and in a few seconds she was gone already.  
She _really_ needed to drive more slowly... She was going to get herself killed someday.

As I turned around to face the school, I noticed the school-yard was almost empty.  
_Fuck_.  
I hurried to the main building, and managed to reach the classroom just in time before the second bell rang.  
''Ah, Ruby. Sit down please.'' Mrs. Lorelei commanded as I entered the classroom, panting heavily.  
I sat down on my spot.  
From the corners of my eyes I noticed Red, Green and Yellow were talking to each other softly, but frantically.  
I could hardly hear what they were saying, but managed to understand a few words, ''...Blue...Didn't see her since last weekend...you didn't either?...I wonder...''  
I noticed that indeed, the noisy girl, Blue, was gone. I looked around, but didn't see her anywhere.  
I did notice a girl with a blue bandana and shoulder length brown hair sitting in the back of the class looking away as soon as I turned around. I sighed and turned my head to the teacher again. Sapphire was one person you didn't want to be in a fight with.  
...It wasn't like that stopped me, though.  
Normally we forgot about our fights a few minutes after we started them. The last one was different, though.  
It had happened during lunch, Sapphire and me were talking about the upcoming dance.  
I told her that I wondered who could be my date. Next thing I know is that she starts randomly insulting me.  
It was unbelievable, and to think I'd have liked to ask her if she didn't have a date. It'd be sad if she went alone, I thought. Anyway... We made a bet. The first one to have a date for the dance would win. I wondered why she was so angry with me for so long, though. It was just a bet. I had tried talking to her a few days ago, but she had shoved her stuff into her bag and just walked away, leaving me standing there, flabbergasted.  
Suddenly Mrs. Lorelei started shouting over the chatting of the students.  
''I have some important news to tell you, students.''  
I looked up from the book I was reading and focussed on what she had to say.  
''As some of you may have noticed, Blue is not with us here today.''  
She cleared her throat as she continued, ''This is because she has been in the hospital since Saturday morning.  
She was hit by a car on the way home.''  
A few girls gasped, as the brown haired woman continued her story, ''Her condition is good at the moment, except for the fact that she has not woken up yet.''  
I looked at the girl's best friends from the corner of my eyes, and noticed they were all staring at Mrs. Lorelei with their eyes widened.

During lunch, I sat with Emerald, Red, Green and Yellow. It was like I was alone, though.  
Red, Green and Yellow hadn't spoken a word since Mrs. Lorelei had told everyone what had happened to Blue, not even to each other, and Emerald had fallen asleep on his plate again.  
I was poking my lunch with my fork.  
I didn't even_ think _of eatingit.  
My mother had made it, and believe me. Mom and food weren't a good combination.  
This salad, for example. I could _swear_ it was breathing.  
I sighed as I shoved my plate away.  
I wasn't very good with food, but I did know that salad was not supposed to be alive, before _or _after you made it.  
This lunch wasn't a very cheerful one, so I got sick of it.  
''I'm going outside.'' I told the others. Emerald was the only one who showed any sign of hearing me, though.  
He lifted his head, and mumbled a, ''yeah, whatever.'', while his face was covered in spaghetti sauce. Before he had even totally sat up, his head fell into his lunch once again, and he fell asleep again.  
I picked up my bag, swung it over my shoulder and walked out of the canteen door.

As I stopped by at my locker to pick up the books that were needed for the next subject, I noticed that a group of giggling girls was standing a few feet away, looking at me every now and then.  
I just ignored them, until all of a sudden one of the girls, a small girl with short raven hair and brown eyes, walked into my direction.  
''Hi.'' She said.  
''...Er, hi.'' I mumbled.  
''I'm Anne.'' She told me, holding out her hand.  
''I'm Ruby.'' I answered her, grabbing her hand and shaking it.  
''I know we don't know each other that well, but I'd like to ask you...'' She started, fidgeting her fingers nervously, ''...If you'd like to go to the dance with me.'' She finished, looking at her shoes.  
_'Going to the prom with this girl? I barely even know her!'_  
_'...Although_,' I thought,_ 'Asking Sapphire is out of the question. She will say no anyway.'_  
I was quiet for a while. But when the girl looked up again, I smiled and answered her, ''Yeah, why not.''  
She opened her mouth, but then closed it again.  
''...T-thank you. _Thank you_!'' She grinned at me broadly, wrote down her number on a piece of paper, gave it to me and then walked over to her friends, who started squealing uncontrollably after a few seconds.  
It wasn't until I grabbed my math book that I saw a girl dressed in blue spin on her heels as soon as she noticed me, and walk the opposite way.  
''Sapphire!'' I called after her, but she didn't respond. She just started walking even faster.  
_'Enough of this.' _I decided as I slammed my locker shut and walked after her.  
She didn't notice me following, judging from the way she lowered speed.  
The bell rang, but I didn't care. As the students slowly disappeared into their classrooms, Sapphire sighed and leaned against one of the lockers, eyes closed.  
Soon we where the only ones left in the hallway.  
''You'll be late, you know.'' I told her.  
Sapphire flinched, and spun around. ''Why do you care?'' She snapped.  
''Because you're my best friend.'' I answered dryly, in an 'isn't it obvious'-tone.  
''I don't want to be your best friend anymore.'' She hissed.  
''Why?''  
She blinked.  
''I really do not understand why you won't talk to me anymore. It was only a small fight. We have these daily.'' I continued.  
''...I-'' She muttered.  
But then she straightened her back and screamed, ''I hate you! Stay away from me!''  
I could only gape at her as she ran away.

...If there was one thing I did not understand, it was girls.

* * *

_I'm very sorry if this chapter sucked… I am not good in writing in a guy's perspective. DX  
Buuuuut... I can tell you that I've written a Franticshipping chapter, and my best friend said it's her favourite one yet!  
So yeah, everything'll be alright!_

_...And oh, yeah. That chapter is chapter twelve, so it'll probably be a while before you'll be able to read it xD_

_~Lion3queen_


	8. Chapter 7

_This chapter is in Sapphire's P.O.V._

_Enjoy! :D_

_~Lion3queen_

* * *

I sighed. I was crouching in the hallway, searching my bag for my lunch. For some reason I found everything there was to find except for my favourite food, sandwiches with salad and chicken.  
_Including_ a pair of socks that looked so dirty they might as well be mutated into a new sort of flesh-eating creature, a few cokes, math homework from about two years ago, a pair of gloves, a flashlight and a pair of -still dirty- sneakers.  
Ok, maybe I _should_ clean my bag a little more often like that sissy said.  
That reminded me... I had been thinking of telling Ruby I was sorry.  
I mean, he only said he didn't know who he would ask to be his date for the prom.  
I didn't even understand why that upset me so much, that guy could go with whoever he wanted. I didn't care.  
It wasn't like Blue and Yellow said. I didn't like that sissy. I mean, come on. I'm not that much of a weakling.  
Falling in love with someone is for weaklings, that was what all famous sporters said.  
It would hold me down.  
My dream was to travel to places far away, beyond the trees and above all annoying and ignorant persons.  
I wanted to do everything to make it come true. It was the most important thing to me.  
I had to work hard, and avoid all things that could stop me.  
It's like my grandmother said, fairytales don't come true, you have to make them happen.  
Nope, love was not for me.

I gathered all of my stuff and shoved it into my backpack. I couldn't believe the way all this _killed_ my lunch break.  
I decided I'd go look for Ruby and apologise to him for my, I admitted,_ childish _behaviour.  
I figured I'd go see if Ruby was at his locker, because I didn't feel like facing Red, Green or Yellow after what Mrs. Lorelei told us. Of course I was shocked too, I had become quite good friends with Blue in a short period of time, but Wally had told me that Red, Blue and Green had been friends forever.  
Childhood friends are always the most precious ones.  
As I turned around the corner, my thoughts were disturbed by a boy clothed in red, that was talking to a raven haired girl in front of his locker.  
-wait, a _girl_?  
I inched a little closer, so I could hear what they were saying.  
''-know we don't know each other that well, but I'd like to ask you...'' The girl started, her cheeks turning into a dark shade of scarlet, ''...If you'd like to go to the dance with me.'' She finished quickly, fixing her eyes on the ground.  
She looked like she could throw up every second.  
I heard quiet giggling from my right, and noticed a group of girls whispering and looking over to Ruby and the girl every now and then.  
Ruby was silent for a while, scratching the back of his head nervously.  
...Why was I hoping he'd say no?  
''Yeah, why not.'' He answered suddenly.  
The girl looked up at him, obviously not knowing what to say. ''-Thank you...'' She mumbled, but then recovered and shouted, _''Thank you!''_  
She then ran to the girls that had been watching them and said something that made them squeal and coo uncontrollably. I didn't even think about the fact that I had lost the bet.  
Why had he agreed? He didn't even know her!  
I felt sick. For some reason I wanted to hit that girl.  
...No, not just hit. I wanted to_ kill_ her.  
Why was I so angry? She didn't do anything wrong.  
I wasn't jealous, was I?  
No, of course I wasn't. Why would I be jealous?  
Because some dumb girl gets to go to the prom with Ruby?  
When I looked at the raven haired teen again, I noticed that he had seen me.  
I turned my back on him and quickly walked away. I heard him calling after me, but was afraid I would do something idiotic like blushing or calling him something weird. I started walking even faster.

After a few minutes I figured that if he had been following me, he had already given up anyway. The bell had rang, and he never came late for class. The hall was deserted, so I wasn't ashamed when I rested my head on a nearby locker.  
I didn't care if I came late; I was used to skipping class when I felt like it. I closed my eyes.  
''You'll be late, you know.'' I heard a familiar voice say from my left. I flinched and spun around.  
Ruby was standing next to me.  
''Why do you care?!'' I snapped. I didn't understand why I had shouted like that.  
...Maybe I was jealous.  
But I couldn't let this guy stand in the way of my dreams. I needed to create a distance between us, so I wouldn't get distracted.  
''Because you're my best friend.'' He answered.  
His best friend?  
...What should I do now? I was his best friend!  
''-I...'' I muttered.  
But I couldn't only think of myself. I was holding him down, too. I wanted to stop him from getting that girl as a date for the dance! I always laughed at his ability to sew, even though he had a talent!  
Yes, I should do this for his own good, I decided.  
''I hate you! Stay away from me!'' I shouted, and ran away, into the direction of the girl's toilets.  
I had done good, now we couldn't hold down each other anymore.

...But then why did I feel so empty inside?


	9. Chapter 8

''-didn't even stop driving! You're lucky I found the little lassie. I was taking my dog Rex for a walk you see, it's a cute little lad but when he needs to go to the toilet no rain can stop 'em. Ehehehe! I hope the lassie here will be ok, though. Ye wouldn't believe what I've seen happening to people nowadays. This little missy's lucky, I can tell ye that. ''  
I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times so they could get used to the light.  
I looked around for a bit. I was lying on a bed, in a room with white walls, and white tiles on the floor. Next to the bed was a small table with a mountain of piled fruit, sweets and postcards on it.  
_'A hospital.'_

I tried to roll over in the bed I was in, to look at the people talking to each other in the doorway, but found myself not able to. I was held back by small tubes that were sticking into my left arm, and white bandage covering my right one.

What had happened to me?  
''-Her name's _Blue_, sir. And we truly appreciate that you found her, but I think she needs some rest now, so would you please leave?''  
''Sure, sure. Quite a hothead, aren't ya?''  
The annoyed sigh that followed could only come from _one_ person.  
''...Green?'' I rasped. My voice sounded like I was a chain smoker, but I didn't notice. My head was foggy.  
''Blue?! You're awake!'' Green said, trying to push a tall, filthy looking man out of the room. Green's voice sounded surprised, how long had I been out?  
After he had finally succeeded in closing the door behind the man with a small ''Thanks for everything,'' Green hurried over to the bed I was lying on.  
''How are you? Do you remember anything? Do you want some water?'' He asked me frantically.  
I gave a weak laugh; it was the first time I had seen him panicking like this. I stopped laughing immediately when I noticed the worried look on his face.  
''How long have I been here?'' I asked him uncertainly.  
''You've been asleep for almost two weeks. How are you feeling?''  
''Fine, really. My head aches a little, but I'll survive.'' I answered him.  
''That's not very strange. The doctors said you have a brain concussion.''  
I was silent for a moment, and then asked him, ''What happened?''  
''You got hit by a car on the way home from school and broke both of your legs and your right arm.'' He stated quickly.  
''…It was stupid. The driver was probably drunk. You had been lying in the grip for a few hours, when the man that I just... _removed _from the room found you.'' He explained.  
''You shouldn't have, Green. I would have liked to thank him.'' I answered.  
He didn't react. He was biting his lip in a worried manner. I was about to ask him what was wrong, when he started talking, ''I'm such an idiot. I knew I should have stayed on school with you. I shouldn't have let you cycle all the way back to your house.'' He stated, furrowing his brows.  
He wasn't actually blaming himself for my accident, was he?  
I sighed.  
''Stop.''  
''Eh?''  
''It wasn't your fault I got into detention. You know me; I just like getting into trouble. Plus, you have been there for me so many times. Even heroes need a day off sometimes, right?'' I said, sticking out my tongue at him like I always did when I was teasing him.  
He was quiet for a few seconds. Then he smiled.  
''You're such an idiot.'' He snickered.  
Had I made him laugh?  
Wow.  
I truly _was_ great at times.  
''I guess I'll take that as a 'thank you'.''  
''I'm going to call your parents to tell them you've woken up, ok?'' He said, walking towards the door, but pausing on the way.  
He turned around, smirking, ''You might just want to read the postcards on the table next to your bed,'' He suggested, pointing at the iron table on my left, ''there are quite interesting ones among them.''  
''You read my mail, you jerk!'' I laughed, trying to sit up. I forgot the small tubes that were sticking into my arms, though, causing me to fall back on the bed immediately.  
''Yeah, you might want to try that again when you're out of the hospital.'' He said, closing the door behind him.  
Less than ten minutes later my parents barged into my room, and pulled me into an embrace that was so tight that after a few seconds they had to pull back, because the machine next to my bed revealed that I couldn't breathe anymore.  
I was overloaded with ''excuse me, blue!'' and ''I'm so sorry, blue''s from my mother, ''how are you, blue?'' and ''I want to strangle that driver, blue''s from my father and ''you've missed some stuff, blue'' and ''everyone was so worried, blue''s from Silver. When a nurse came in later that night to announce the fact that the visiting hour was over, my parents and silver began to rant so badly that the nurse backed away slightly and quickly closed the door again.

In the days after that, many people came to visit me. I was never lonely.  
Red, Green, Yellow, Ruby and Sapphire, and even Silver, Crystal and Gold came to the hospital almost daily.  
After a few days I was moved to a different room, this one had big windows. I was now able to see the hospital garden if I sat up in my bed.  
The doctor had also switched the bandage plaster on my legs to walking plaster.  
After that my friends visited even more often, helping me to learn walking again, taking me for walks and, unfortunately, bringing homework from school. Doing my homework was difficult, since I was right-handed and my left arm was the arm not broken.  
In the weeks that passed, the leaves on the trees turned brown and swirled down each in turn.  
It was a depressing sight, really. Knowing that the fall was passing without me noticing much of it.

======

''Boo!'' I heard a high pitched voice shout.  
I looked up from the math homework I was making. ''Yellow, why are you covered in a blanket?''  
The small girl was wrapped in a white blanket, with holes cut in it so she could see anyway.  
She moaned. ''I'm a ghost! Look! Can't you see?'' She asked me, making funny movements with her arms, as if to scare me.  
''Yep, very convincing.'' I said, patting her on the head.  
Even though her face was covered by the white blanket, I could _feel_ she was pouting.  
Suddenly her eyes opened wider. ''Wait, don't you know what day it is?'' She asked me.  
''Er... Not really.''  
''It's October 30th! Halloween!''  
''Oh, right.''

I didn't like Halloween that much.  
Dressing up as some crazy creature and ringing the doorbell of complete strangers to obtain awfully sweet candy wasn't my idea of fun.  
...Well, it used to be. But after I was followed by a creepy old man for three blocks last year, telling me how cute I looked, I decided that Halloween was not for me.  
''What do you mean?'' She asked me, tilting her head to the side.  
''Well, I'm not exactly able to go candy-hunting with you, you know?'' I explained, smiling and pointing at my bandaged legs.  
''Of course you are!'' She said, her mood brightening instantly.  
She walked out of the door, but came back a few minutes later, carrying a big, pink, rabbit costume. My eyes almost popped out of my head.  
''The hospital would let me borrow it, if I promised I'd bring it back later. They don't want to ruin your Halloween.'' She smiled, showing me the costume.  
''Oh, you don't have to-''  
''-I insist, Blue! It would be unfair if Red, Green and me have fun all evening while you sit here.''  
She actually managed to get me into the costume without hurting my arm and both of my legs, and made me sit down in the wheelchair.  
Red and Green showed up later. Red was dressed up as the stereotype Dracula and Green was wrapped in toilet paper. They were dressed like this every year, actually.  
They managed to hold in their laughter, so they wouldn't hurt my -and probably Yellow's- feelings, and even told me I looked 'fluffy'.  
We were given tons of candy everywhere we went. Probably because of 'the kid in the rabbit costume' like every person that opened the door called me. There were even people that wanted to take a picture of me.  
After my friends had brought me back to the hospital and Yellow helped me getting out of the costume, all three of them stayed for a while, dividing the candy among the four of us.  
After they had left, I found myself thinking about the Halloween. It hadn't been that bad, really.  
Actually, I thought it was the best Halloween I ever had.  
The month after that passed slowly. I still wasn't allowed to go back to my house, because, according to the doctors, my situation was too risky. If something happened to me, I wouldn't be able to flee, and calling someone would be difficult. I also still suffered from the concussion. My head hurt almost daily, so studying was hard. Also, my right arm was broken, so since I was right-handed I couldn't write songs anymore.  
Well, I _could_. But trying to write was in vain, noticing I could barely read my own hand-writing when my arm was ok. Just imagine how it would look if I wrote with my left hand.  
My mood darkened with every day. I was getting tired with the sight of the white, plain room and the hospital garden. It wasn't beautiful anymore, like it was in summer. Now it was dark and gloomy. Almost sinister.  
I didn't like looking out of my window anymore.

I was lying on my back, on top of my bed. Staring at the ceiling, like I did often lately.  
_'Knock knock!'_  
I looked into the direction of the door with a raspy, ''Yeah, come in.''  
In the doorway Green stood with a big smirk on his face.  
''What is it?'' I asked him grumpily.  
He walked towards me, until he was right next to my bed. ''Guess whose plaster bandage will be taken off in a few hours?''  
I blinked. ''W-what-''  
''I just talked to the doctors. They said you'll be going home tomorrow.''  
''No way!'' I almost screamed. I got up so quickly I forgot about my arm and legs, causing me to roll off of my bed and fall down on the tiles with a soft _'thud.'_  
''Well, you might have to stay here longer, if you keep falling like that.'' he said dryly.  
''I can't believe it! I'm getting out of this place!'' I cheered, ignoring his comment. ''I'll be able to continue writing my song again!'  
''You've started writing a new song?'' Green asked.  
Holy crap, had I said that out loud?  
''Er... You're not supposed to hear it until I've finished it.'' I stated quickly.  
''That's ok. What's it about?''  
_You._ ''It's complicated.''  
He was silent for a moment and then said, ''I've missed your songs.''  
''Really?'' I asked him, quite flustered.  
He nodded, ''They're good.''  
It was when I felt my cheeks heat up that I noticed I was still on the floor.  
''A little help please?'' I asked him with my good arm reaching for something to pull me up.  
He smirked and picked me up in princess hold.  
''Eep! Put me down!'' I shrieked when I finally noticed what was happening.  
''Yeah. On the bed, that is.'' He answered me. He then slowly put me down on the bed.  
''You're heavy.'' He told me as I brushed the bangs out of my -now red- face.  
''Are you calling me fat?'' I muttered through clenched teeth.  
''I'm calling your bandage plaster fat.'' he answered me.  
At the word 'fat' the door swung open, revealing two people dressed in white coats.  
''Miss Blue? We are here to bring you to the doctor.'' The tallest one of the two men said.  
I glanced at Green.  
He glanced back at me and nodded, as if to tell me that'd be ok.  
''Yeah, sure.'' I told the two men as they helped me sit up and brought me to the wheelchair that was always next to my bed, just in case.  
I can't remember much of what happened after that. I was longing for my normal life so badly that I couldn't really think of anything else. I barely even noticed the bandage taken off by a white -seriously, what'd these people have with the colour white? - chainsaw-like machine. The only thing I remember clearly was the look on my parent's faces as they stood in the main hallway, waiting for their healthy daughter to arrive. I also remember the soft breeze that brushed my cheeks as my parents rode my wheelchair out of the huge building, towards the car. That single fall-breeze felt even nicer than it would normally have, because I felt like it wasn't just wind, it was the world telling me that I was released.

That I was free.

_I'm sorry if you think that not enough happened in this chapter… It'll be different next time. ;D_

_~Lion3queen_


	10. Chapter 9

_Hey there, you guys!_

_Er… I hope that you enjoy this chapter!_

_~Lion3queen_

**_/EDIT: Something went wrong when I uploaded this chapter yesterday; for some reason chapter 9 had dissapeared. I had to reupload it. I'm sorry for the inconvenience._**

* * *

I was poking my food with my fork absentmindedly.  
This morning had been a disaster.  
Firstly, I had shown up at school in a wheelchair. I couldn't write properly, so my friends had to make their notes twice.  
Second, I had been answering like a million questions about my accident all morning.  
Third, Everywhere I looked people where whispering and pointing.  
I hated being in a small school. News spread quickly.  
...Not that two months weren't very long of course.  
Also, Ruby and Sapphire seemed to still be angry with each other. It seemed to be Sapphire mostly, though.  
When I asked Yellow why she hadn't talked to Sapphire yet, she answered me that she had wanted to wait for me first.

I looked around the table. Everyone was talking to each other, except for Ruby and Sapphire -they were each sitting on another end of the table- and Green. He was staring at the opposite wall absentmindedly.  
He didn't look very well.  
''Green?''  
He didn't respond.  
''Green?'' I asked once again.  
''Hn?''  
''Are you sick?'' I asked him, putting my hand on his cheek.  
He flinched and snapped, ''Don't touch me!''  
I pulled back my hand quickly, muttering, ''...Sorry.''  
Then I noticed everyone on the table was looking in our direction.  
I looked down at my plate.  
Why did Green shout at me like that? The last time he did that must have been about three years ago.  
And back then I was teasing him, so I knew he was going to be annoyed. This time I had meant well.  
When the bell rang, I silently grabbed my bag and walked to the canteen door, with Yellow next to me.  
The rest left, too. Everyone except for Red and Green.  
Red was talking to Green frantically.

Many weeks passed. The days became colder and colder until one morning it started snowing, and it didn't stop until the whole town was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Cycling to school became hard, so my dad had to drive me to school.  
Ruby and Sapphire still didn't talk to each other. Actually, their relationship seemed to become worse every day.  
Not that they were fighting much... It was way worse. They didn't talk to each other at all.  
They ignored the other completely.  
Green and Platina still hadn't broken up. Platina decided that I wasn't a danger to them anyway, and she didn't mind him and me hanging out. I was becoming very close with her two best friends, Diamond and Pearl. They were fun to be with, and since my own best friend was with Platina all the time, Red and Yellow were busy with some kind of science project they had to work on every single afternoon, Ruby and Sapphire weren't the most cheerful persons at the moment and the fact that Emerald hated everyone's guts, including mine, I found myself hanging around Diamond and Pearl most of the time. One time, Diamond, Pearl and me were watching Malcolm in the Middle, a comedy series I hadn't bothered to watch before. It was funny, though. Hilarious, actually.  
I was sitting in one of the big fatboys that were spread all over Pearl's room. I liked his room. It was cosy, but not in a creepy are-you-really-a-guy way. There was orange and green everywhere. A strange combination if you ask me, but it was funny in a way. ''Ah, this is so good! What is it?'' I asked the two guys that were each sitting on one side of me while picking something that looked like a ball of dough with iced sugar on top out of a glass bowl and sticking it into my mouth.  
''You like 'em, huh?'' Diamond asked me with a sheepish smile on his face. ''I make them myself. They're Dutch doughnuts.''  
''What?''  
''They're like...'' Diamond started, tapping his chin.  
''...Fwittews.'' Pearl finished after a few seconds, with his mouth full of the delicious snacks.  
''Yes, fritters! Thanks, bro.''  
I directed my attention to the television screen again.  
When I looked at the black haired and the blond boy, I noticed they were frantically making notes after every funny moment on the television.  
''What're you guys doing?'' I asked them, turning my head from Pearl to Diamond, not sure who would answer.  
It was Pearl. ''We are making notes.'' He replied in an isn't-it-obvious tone.  
''Yeah, but why?'' I asked them, this time in an annoyed tone. I wasn't that curious, really. I just hated when people refused to tell me anything that meant a big deal to them.  
I tried to snatch the notebook away from the blond, but he held it out of my reach just in time to protect it from my grasp.  
When I looked away to see if Diamond would tell me what they were doing, the raven haired boy slammed my face with his notebook.  
''Ouch! What was that for?'' I asked him. My voice sounded muffled because I was cupping my mouth and nose with my hands.  
''You're not supposed to see what we're doing yet.'' He replied, again with that goofy smile.  
''...So you decided you'd give me some brain damage?'' I asked him, still cupping my face with my hands, but now glaring at the boy furiously, too.  
''Yeah... That wasn't entirely the plan. I was planning on just giving you a tap with my notebook, but then you turned your face in my direction-''  
''I'm going to destroy you.'' I sang, now removing one of my hands from my face and using it to pull Diamond's cheek quite hard.  
After a few minutes of ignoring Diamond's pleas (''Let go of my face! You're hurting me!'' ''This way I won't be able to eat anymore! NOOO!'') I decided to look at the blond boy on my left again. I noticed he wasn't making notes from the screen anymore, but was now looking at me and Diamond now and then, scribbling down words in a small handwriting while muttering things like: ''...way better than television...'' and ''...wait 'till the judge sees this...''.  
Ok, so now I _was_ curious. They kept telling me that I'd find out soon enough though, and refused to tell me any more.

When I came home that day more quickly than normal -ever since I got home from the hospital my parents insisted I'd take the bus- my mom greeted me with a hug and shoved a package in my hands.  
''Hello Blue!'' She said with her usual sheepish smile, ''Would you mind bringing your father that? It just arrived for him, and he asked me if he could have it as soon as possible, but Silver didn't _feel_ like bringing it to him...'' She pouted and looked into the direction of our living room.  
''Stop pouting, woman!'' I heard the voice of a boy that had just hit puberty.  
''Why are you so mean to me, Silver?! I'm your mother, I'm superior to you!''  
''Who told you that?''  
''Everyone says so on tv!''  
''No tv for you anymore, then.''  
All I could do was smirk. My mother and Silver were absolutely hopeless.  
''It's ok, mom. I'll bring it to him.'' I didn't find it much of a problem. Ever since I got out of the hospital and could walk again, I just loved to walk.

My father was a children's doctor and worked at the local children's hospital. When I arrived at the hospital, the clouds were all pink, with a golden line underneath. Even though the sun was setting, the town was full of life. Everywhere I looked, were people doing some late Christmas shopping or talking to friends, wishing them happy holidays. The air was freezing and the cold breeze felt painful on my skin, but I didn't even notice. There was so much to look at. Every house was lit up by thousands of tiny light bulbs and shone as brightly as the stars, and it was funny to look at the people passing by, their hair was white from all the small snowflakes, and they were often carrying turkeys that were bigger than themselves and enormous bags with presents.  
As I stepped through the glass door of the hospital I was greeted by a pink haired woman that was sitting behind a desk.  
Her nameplate said 'Nurse Joyce'. The room I had entered looked a lot like the hospital rooms I had spent about two months in. The only difference was the fact that this was obviously a waiting room and the big Christmas tree that contrasted against the white walls.  
''Welcome, Blue! Shall I tell your father you are here?'' She smiled.  
''...Um, yeah. Sure.'' I answered her, startled by the fact that she knew my name.  
She picked up the phone, ''Hello, Will! Your daughter has arrived here.'' She looked at the small package in my arms and then continued, ''Yes, she is carrying a package.'' She paused for a while, ''Ok, I'll tell her that.''  
She placed the phone in the standard again, and then looked up. ''He is coming as soon as possible. Would you mind waiting here?''  
I shook my head and sat down on one of the small but comfy couches. I spent about ten minutes reading uninteresting magazines and drinking water from the water machine that was placed next to my seat, when I noticed that someone had come in. The person was wearing a long, red jacket, a white scarf, white over-the-knee socks and pink boots.  
_'Platina.' _  
I wondered what she was doing here. Was someone she knew hospitalized?  
''Why, hello miss Berlitz!'' Nurse Joyce chirped, ''The children are waiting for you!''  
Platina nodded and walked towards the hallways.  
Ok, this was the second time today I was curious.  
It didn't look like my father was coming any time soon, so I decided I'd look where Platina was going.  
''...I...Um... Have to go to the toilet.'' I called over to the rosette behind the desk.  
''But of course! Do you know where it is?'' She asked me.  
''Yes.'' I lied, and quickly pushed open the heavy red door.  
I could just see Platina's Prada purse disappearing in the elevator. The small plate above it said 'fifth floor' in small yellow characters.  
_'You have to be kidding me.'_  
But I had no choice. There was only one elevator. Reluctantly I looked at the stairs on my left.  
My leg was still a bit weak.  
_'At least it'll be good practice.' _I told myself.

When I finally reached the fifth floor, panting like mad, I noticed Platina. She had just walked out of the stairs and was greeted by a small girl that was about five years old running towards her.  
''Miss Platina!'' The girl called out with a high-pitched voice.  
''_Bonjour, _Elizabeth.'' Platina smiled, catching the girl in her arms, picking her up and swirling her around.  
The little girl was giggling. I noticed she had a big burning mark on one side of her face. I gasped and quickly put my hand over my mouth.  
''What story have you brought for us today?'' The girl asked her as platina put her on the floor again.  
The raven haired girl searched her bag, and then held up a book. ''The frog prince!'' She said in a French accent.  
The girl clapped her hands together, and then ran towards a room at the end of the hallway.  
''You guys! Miss Platina is here!'' She yelled. In no time many injured children were gathered in front of the door, waving at Platina happily. She walked over to the kids, guided them all in, ''Once upon a time there was a princess-'' I could hear her say before she closed the door behind her.  
''Amazing, isn't it?'' A voice said.  
I flinched. I didn't hear anyone coming.  
The voice was coming from a brown haired middle-aged man.  
''Hi dad.'' I mumbled, ''Why is Pl-... _that girl _going to those children? Is she forced to do it?''  
My dad looked at me quite shocked, ''What? Of course not! She's doing it out of free will. Twice a week she visits the children, plays with them and reads them stories. They love her.''  
I blinked and looked at the closed door at the end of the hallway again. Was it true?  
_'Then..._' I thought, _'She isn't a selfish person after all. Maybe she is just quiet, rich and popular. Maybe Green doesn't like her because she was beautiful from the outside, but because she is beautiful from the inside, too.'_  
''So do you have the package?'' My father asked me.  
''Yes.'' I replied and handed it over to him, ''What's inside of it?''  
Damn, since when was I such a curious person?  
My father smiled. ''Wedding rings.'  
My jaw dropped, ''Do you mean... You're going to ask mom to marry you?''  
They had been together for many years and even had a daughter, but they had never married. They were both used to the fact that their relationships usually didn't last very long back then, so they had agreed not to marry.  
''You're kidding! That's amazing!'' I cheered.  
''So how'd you like to be the bridesmaid?''  
I couldn't get the stupid smirk of my face, so I gave up trying after a while.  
''Let's get the biggest turkey there is!'' My father suggested as we walked out of the building and stepped into his car.  
''Yeah, let's do that.'' I agreed, still wearing an idiotic smirk.


	11. Chapter 10

''Blue, I absolutely adore your shoes!'' Chrystal squealed, pointing at my teal coloured heels.  
She probably liked them because of the tiny stars that hung at the sides, though... For some reason she was obsessed with the little symbols. Not that I didn't like them... I loved the way they danced around with every movement I made.  
''Gee, thanks.'' I said.  
I had been talking to people all night. Every time I wanted to go to the dining table to get some punch and maybe a few seconds in which I didn't have to force a smile and pretend I was all happy, I ran into someone I knew.  
Because I really wasn't happy.  
Not tonight.  
There wasn't any particular reason for my gloominess. I had just fallen asleep kind of late yesterday night, and woken up at four am. I was now also suffering from the consequences of inviting too many people.  
My mom had wanted to give a party for Christmas and the New Year this year, and asked a few of her friends to come, Silver had invited Gold and Crystal, I had invited Red, Green, Yellow, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond, Pearl and Platina, and my dad had asked a few people from his work to come.  
..._And_ their friends and family, judging from the lack of personal space.  
For some reason, nobody seemed to mind though. Nobody, except for me.  
''I love this party, seriously!'' the dark-blue haired girl said, ''It's so cosy and- is that punch?''  
She ran off quickly, waving at me without looking over her shoulder.  
Ok, now I just had to find Red, Green and Yellow without-  
''Why hello, Blue! A merry Christmas to you!'' I heard a deep, but cheerful voice say.  
_'I'm going to cry.'_  
I looked up at an elderly man with a lab coat and a friendly face.  
''Hey, professor Oak!'' I said, trying to sound cheerful like he did.  
Professor Oak was running a lab quite close to my house. He also was Green's grandfather and caretaker.  
''If you're looking for Red, Yellow and my grandson, I saw them in the hallway just a moment ago.''  
Could this man read my mind?  
''Thanks!'' I said, smiling.  
A real smile this time.

I tried to make my way through the mass of people, now and then nudging someone in the ribs or stepping on somebody's foot unintentionally.  
Finally I noticed my friends leaning against the wall in the hallway; they were each holding a glass of Champaign.  
Even here it was crowded.  
''Finally, I found you!'' I yelled, I had to call out to them a few times more before they heard me, though.  
Red was first to notice me. I couldn't hear him, but he prodded Green and Yellow, said something I didn't understand and pointed in my direction.  
I waved at them and made my way through the crowd. The ground was slippery, probably because of people dancing with cans of beer and glasses of wine and Champaign in their hands. My heels made it hard to keep standing, though.  
Eventually, when I had almost reached my friends, someone bumped into me, causing me to fall over.  
Somebody caught me by my wrist, though. When I looked up, I noticed it was Green.  
I mouthed a 'thanks' and stepped back, my cheeks heating up.  
Talking over the cheesy Christmas-songs that were played was hard, so we each had to yell at the top of our lungs.  
''Your parents are getting married?'' Yellow chirped. For some reason she succeeded in sounding cheerful, even though her high-pitched voice was barely understandable.  
I nodded, ''Yes!''  
''I'd like to congratulate them.'' Red decided, raising his fist in the air.  
''Good luck finding them in all _this_,'' Green said, gesturing to the mass of people around us.  
Red swallowed audibly. ''Good point.'' he said, sweat dropping and lowering his fist again.

After about fifteen minutes, in the middle of ''_Jingle bell Rock'' _Gold walked up to us, ''Hey there, you guys. Merry Christmas. What's up?''  
''Yeah, we're fi-'' Yellow started.  
She was cut of by Gold though, who continued, ''-Good. So, what I was thinking... That upcoming dance, it's not for people in my year. I heard though, that if you go with a person that _is_ allowed to go to the dance, you can go as well.''  
I could see where this was going.  
''-So, Blue...'' He said, turning to me and curling one of his mouth corners up in a way that would have been quite sexy if he was a few years older, ''Would you like to go to the dance with me?''  
''...Er...'' I looked at my friends.  
For some reason Green was glaring even more than usual.  
''She'd rather die.'' He hissed when I didn't answer.  
Gold didn't look intimidated at all. In fact, he raised his eyebrow at Green.  
There were a few seconds of awkward silence between the five of us.  
''Right.'' I said, ''I'm sorry, Gold. You can go next year, right?''  
''...Yeah.'' Gold said.  
A few seconds before he disappeared into the mass of people, he looked over his shoulder and eyed Green suspiciously.

Gold was gone now, but the awkwardness stayed.  
After a few minutes I thought of saying something useless about our big Christmas-tree, just to start a conversation, but that wasn't necessary.  
''Hey, Blue!''  
I turned around.  
The voice belonged to Pearl. Diamond stood next to him, smiling and waving sheepishly.  
''Hey you guys!'' I rasped, running towards them gratefully.  
I was glad I now had an excuse to escape from the awkwardness.  
I waved at the my three friends apologetically, and then turned around screaming ''Merry Christmas!'' at the two boys.  
''You said it.'' Said Pearl and Diamond simultaneously.  
I wondered how they always did that.  
''Where's Platina? I thought she'd come, too.'' I noticed.  
''She's here, somewhere.'' Diamond said, ''I dunno where exactly, though. I believe she was talking to your dad the last time I saw her.''  
''That's too bad... I would have liked to wish her a merry Christmas, too.''  
The two boys looked at each other and then turned to me, ''You rarely talk to her, do you?''  
I looked up at them, ''I saw her in the children's hospital... My dad told me what kind of work she does there.''  
I smiled, brushing a strand of hair out of my face, ''I think she kind of... Gained my respect.''  
When I looked up again I noticed they were both smiling at me.  
''What's up with the idiotic smirks?!'' I asked them, but they just shrugged.  
I punched Pearl's arm, pouting, ''Tell me.''  
He just patted my head, and said, ''I heard the Christmas-cake is good. I'm gonna have some.''  
''_Where is it?!_'' Diamond yelled, suddenly awoken from his daze.  
They then left, walking into the direction of the living room.

For some reason the music seemed to be turned up with every minute. I could now barely hear people talking, even when they were standing right next to me.  
I was now talking to Green, if you could call it _talking._  
He said something, but I couldn't understand him.  
''You did _what_?'' I yelled randomly. Honestly, I didn't hear a thing he was saying.  
He tried to talk over the music, but I still couldn't understand, _''What?!''_  
He sighed, and then tried yelling at me again.  
Unfortunately, at the same second he started yelling, the music was turned down.  
''-THAT DRESS LOOKS NICE ON YOU!'' mercilessly echoed through the house.  
Everybody had stopped talking and turned their heads in our direction.  
After a few seconds of silence the corners of my mouth slowly turned up.  
I tried to stop myself from laughing and say thanks, but it was in vain.  
In a few seconds I burst out laughing so badly that the tears were streaming down my face.  
When I looked up at Green, my vision was blurred, so I could only make out his silhouette, though it looked like he was chuckling too.  
For some reason everyone else was still silent, even when Green also burst out laughing.  
''Er... Excuse me?'' I heard a hesitating voice say -through a microphone, judging from the volume- trying to get some attention.  
I wiped away my tears and peeked around the corner from the corridor, still chuckling slightly. It was my mother who had been talking through the microphone. She was standing on the small stage covered in Christmas-decorations my father and Silver hand spent all afternoon on.  
''There are things in a man's life that they want to be _perfect''_they had answered me when I asked them why they worked on a thing like that for so long. Tsk, men could be so naive.  
I noticed my mom was shivering slightly.  
I now knew where I had gotten my stage fright from.  
''So, welcome to the party and a belated Merry Christmas to you all!'' There were a few seconds of applause and cheering, before the woman continued talking, ''We'll start the countdown in about half an hour! In the meantime my daughter Blue will entertain you with a few songs.'' She finished, smiling at me.  
I gasped, and looked at Green. All signs that we had been laughing like crazy just minutes before had disappeared from both our faces.  
''It'll be ok, as soon as you've started singing, all worries will disappear. It's always like that.'' he paused a while, and then added, ''If you think you'll faint, try closing your eyes.''  
I nodded. I could _feel_ my skin turn white.

When I arrived at the stage, which went quite quickly noticing everybody made way for me, someone gave me my guitar and pushed me towards the stage.  
I didn't expect that, causing me to trip. Luckily I could stop myself from falling by grabbing a hold of the microphone stand just in time.  
I could hear some laughing from the crowd, and swallowed.  
The room was very crowded. Everywhere I looked were faces, and everywhere I looked they were looking at me.  
I blinked a few times, afraid that if I didn't I would faint, like at the talent show.  
Then, all of a sudden, I noticed all of my friends standing together. Even Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond, Pearl and Platina were there. They were all waving smiling encouragingly.  
They wanted me to do this.  
My friends believed in me.  
I couldn't let them down.  
_'I can do this.' _flashed through my mind.  
I then sat down on a bar stool that had been placed on the stage -probably for me- cleared my throat, closed my eyes and started singing.

''2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,  
"Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?,  
I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season"  
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes  
Like they have any right at all to criticize,  
Hypocrites. You're all here for the very same reason

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable  
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table  
No one can find the rewind button, girl.  
So cradle your head in your hands  
And breathe... just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe

May he turned 21 on the base at Fort Bliss  
"Just a day" he said down to the flask in his fist,  
"Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year."  
Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while,  
But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles,  
Wanna hold him. Maybe I'll just sing about it.

Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,  
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.  
No one can find the rewind button, boys,  
So cradle your head in your hands,  
And breathe... just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe

There's a light at each end of this tunnel,  
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out  
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again  
If you only try turning around.

2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song  
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,  
Threatening the life it belongs to  
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd  
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud  
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,  
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table  
No one can find the rewind button now  
Sing it if you understand.  
and breathe, just breathe  
woah breathe, just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe.''

I slowly opened my eyes. Nobody was saying anything.  
I looked around, had I done something wrong?  
Then, slowly, somebody started clapping. Somebody else joined in, and slowly but surely everybody started applauding and cheering for me.  
My mom entered the stage with tears in her eyes, gave me a quick hug, quietly whispered ''You were great, honey!'' and then grabbed the microphone and started talking again.  
''I hope you all enjoyed my daughter's singing -and if you didn't, you need a serious brain check- but now it's almost time for the countdown. There's still ten minutes, so grab a glass of Campaign and gather around the stage if you didn't already.'' She finished, clapping her hands together excitedly.

I made my way through the crowd, attempting to join my friends so I could be with them during the countdown and the start of the New Year.  
As I finally managed to reach the spot by the window -there were snowflakes all over it, making it hard to look outside- I was hugged and shouted at by my friends.  
''Oh Blue, you did great!'' Yellow chimed.  
''Proud to be a friend of yours.'' Red joked, patting my back.  
Silver then walked by, grinned and offered me a glass of champagne.  
I had, to my mother's amazement, somehow managed to convince Silver and his friends to walk around with Champagne for the guests.  
''Thanks, Silver!'' I said, accepting the drink gratefully.  
The rest now took a glass of champagne too, and bumped it into mine with a ''Cheers!'' and lots of compliments about my previous singing.  
I brushed a few of stubborn hair strands out of my face, and smiled at my friends. I wasn't used to that many compliments.  
''Gee, well done Blue.'' Ruby and Sapphire said simultaneously, in the same lifeless tone.  
They shot each other a glare, and then looked at me again.  
I sweat dropped. _'Why doesn't Sapphire make up with Ruby so we can get this thing over with?' _I thought with a sigh.  
I was about to ask her if I could speak to her privately, when my mother's voice resounded through the microphone. Every head in the room was now turned in her direction. I noticed it was now even more crowded in the room, since everybody wanted to be able to be present when the countdown started.  
I was now squashed between Pearl and Red, while Yellow was standing on my toes and Silver's collar was stuck to my earrings. It wasn't the most comfortable I had ever been, but I liked it. Being with my friends was always a party to me, even if it wasn't to them.  
_''Ten!''_ The crowd screamed, waking me up from my thoughts.  
_''Nine!'' _Boomed through the house.  
_''Eight!''_ ''...Er, eight!" I muttered, a bit too late to join the burst of voices.  
_''Seven!''_ ''-Seven!'' What was up with my sense of rhythm today?  
_''Six!''_ Yes, I was in time!  
_''Five!''_ ''-five!'' Aw, crap...  
_''Four! three! two!'' _the crowd chimed.  
_''One...'' _The crowd shouted. There were a few seconds of silence, before music started playing loudly, balloons were thrown into the air and everybody shouted, ''Happy New year!''

My friends and me all toasted, laughing and shouting.  
''Happy New year, Blue!'' Silver said.  
''Happy New year to you too, Silver!'' I yelled, hugging the redhead.  
I pulled away almost instantly, making my way through the crowd so I could congratulate the rest.  
''Blue! Happy New year!'' Diamond said, holding his hand out for a high-five.  
I chuckled, and smacked his hand with mine, ''Happy New Year to you too, Dia. And to you, Pearl!''  
The blond nodded, smiling broadly.  
''Do you guys know where Green and Platina are? I would like to congratulate them.''  
''Yeah, they're right behind you.'' Diamond told me, smiling sheepishly. I smiled too, I had no idea his smile would be this contagious.  
However, as soon as I turned around, my grin faded.  
There they were, kissing. They looked so, happy...  
So innocent.  
So... Perfect.  
I couldn't believe I had the nerve to want to be with Green instead.  
I felt like someone had stabbed me right through the heart.  
When I tore my gaze away from Green and Platina, I looked at the two boys. I noticed that Diamond was still looking happy. Pearl, however, looked different. He was looking at the couple, too. His face didn't look that happy anymore.  
I woke up from my thoughts as Red approached me. ''Hey there, Blue! It's probably going to sound cliché, but a Happy New Year!''  
''-Yes, you too!'' I said, putting on my most faked smile.  
''Want some more champagne?'' He asked me.  
He noticed I was feeling bad, I could see it. He knew that if he was supposed to know, I would tell him, so he wasn't bothering me with it. That was Red. There were these small things that made him compatible with every single person, even though most of the time he didn't even notice himself.  
''Yeah, champagne would be nice.'' I said.  
He took a glass from Chrystal, with a smile.  
Her face reddened a bit, but she nodded stiffly and walked on.  
''Thanks.'' I said when he gave me the c.  
I gulped it all down at once.  
He flinched, and stammered, ''H-hey! Slow down with that!''  
We were interrupted by loud banging noises coming from outside, hesitating at first, but more and more sounds sought a way in through the walls and windows, until all of a sudden the whole house seemed to be bursting with loud exploding sounds. Everybody knew what that meant, so in no time the house was empty.

Everybody was outside, looking at the colourful explosions that now coloured the sky, and lit everything up.

''Blue! Blue! It's firework!'' Yellow prodded me, she then clapped her hands together and started swirling around, pointing at the sky.

''Yes!'' I laughed.

Sapphire ran in our direction. She seemed to be at least as happy with the firework as Yellow was.

''Look, you guys!'' She squealed. She sounded way more girly than she did usually.

''I know!'' Yellow chirped.

''Look at that one! It's blue!"'

''And that one! It has like a million colours!''

They started running in circles, but then bumped into each other and fell down on the snow-covered grass, giggling and pointing.

I stood next to them uncomfortably for a while, until I thought, _'Oh, for the hell of it.'_ and laid down next to them.

In only minutes I was also caught by the beauty of the spectacle that took place above us.

Enjoying even the smallest things in life doesn't require an ability. All it takes is to open up to it.

_I actually wrote this__chapter on New Year's eve. Lawl, sorry for uploading it this late. XD_

_~Lion3queen_


	12. Chapter 11

_''-And so Columbus discovered America.'' _  
I sighed as I put my pencil down and leaned back in my chair.  
It made a winy sound during my last movement, causing me to flinch, and then relax again.  
My office chair was old and cheap, so studying was a bit harder than it should be.  
I didn't want to bother my dad with my furniture-problems, though. He was having a hard time paying the rent, my school, saving money for me to go to college and to keep us both healthy with just one job.  
He was a therapist, and that job took up all his time. I was alone often, not that I minded.  
I was proud of my dad, and wanted to do whatever I could to help him.  
Our apartment was on top of a small café, called ''The Flightless Bird''.  
I had known the owner for as long as we lived there, and when I asked him whether I could work there, to support my dad financially, the man said I could do the dishes in the weekends. I had accepted it thankfully, and now worked there every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Sometimes my friends came around. My boss had never found it a problem, he knew them well too, and knew I didn't slack off. It was in my nature to work hard, and try to do a good job on everything.  
I hadn't told my dad anything about my part-time job. He would definitely disapprove. Every time I started talking about anything that even sounded like ''I want to help you solve our financial problems'' he would smile, and say ''You're a teenager, son. You should make fun with your friends and worry about things like first kisses and rock bands for as long as you can''.  
I wasn't just any teenager, though.  
I was Pearl. And I was _not_ going to let a person as good as he is do all the work. That was just not my style.

As I got up from my chair -ignoring my chair's complaints- I opened the window and let the cool breeze brush my skin.  
I lived in a busy street. Everywhere I looked were people.  
Ever since I was little, I loved to look at the people passing by. They were each completely different. It fascinated me.  
In a few years it was like I knew them personally, even though I didn't know their names. I learned other things about them, like the old lady that lived across the street. She would always look outside her window, eyes focused on the sky. It was like she waited for somebody to come home. She would always sit on her flower-patterned arm chair, like she had nothing else to do. I always wondered what was the reason that she sat there, gazing at the sky like she knew there was something there, but didn't know where exactly.  
And then, on a Sunday morning, my dad was reading the paper and had pointed at the picture of an old lady, ''Look, Pearl. This is Mrs. Stephens! She lived across the street, do you remember her? It's a wonderful lady, or so I heard. She has died last night, son.'' He had looked at me sternly, and then continued, ''You know, she was once a very, very happy and intelligent woman. Her husband was a pilot.  
Then, her husband died in a plane-crash about twenty years ago. The doctors said she never once believed them, she has been waiting for him, certain that he would return home one day.''  
I hadn't known what to say, then. I had never talked to her, but felt like I had lost a friend. When I went to her funeral, I was the only person there. The priest said her friends were gone for a long time already, that in the end she was all alone. I had tried desperately not to cry. She hadn't been a bad person, just heartbroken.  
Love can make people do silly things.  
Like my dad, he once lived with my mother. My dad had told me that she had never liked the idea of having children to begin with, but she changed her mind once she found out she was pregnant. And then, when I was about four months old, she just ran away. She ran away with the man that gave her painting courses! She had left, leaving behind only emptiness. Expecting my dad to take care of everything and start a life with that other man.

When I woke up the next morning, I noticed I had falling asleep with my head resting on the window-sill.  
The alarm clock next to my bed showed a red-glowing '09:00 AM'.  
Shit, had I forgotten to go to work at the 'Flightless Bird'?  
I bit my lip. The boss was going to be pissed. He would get over it quickly, though; this was my first time ever not to show up.  
I sneezed. It had been freezing this night.  
I had probably caught a cold. When I fell asleep yesterday, it had been around four o'clock in the afternoon.  
I hadn't realised I was that tired, even though I hadn't slept the night before. It was new year, and I had celebrated at Blue's home this year. It had been fun. The years before I had celebrated it with the employees and the owner of the restaurant. That had been fun, too. Those people were like a second family to me, but being with friends always had some kind of magical feeling. The party had been great. Blue had sung a few songs, and though she had found it quite scary at first, but recovered herself. After that we had started the countdown, and celebrated the start of the new year.  
...For some reason though, when I saw Platina kiss Green, something snapped. I felt sick, and had to suppress the urge to smack that guy in the face. I dismissed it, though, and told myself it was because I was Platina's friend, and just very protective of her.

The morning and afternoon of Sunday passed without anything happening. My dad wasn't home, so I decided I'd just finish my homework and do some shopping so I could have dinner ready for when my dad came home. He'd be exhausted. The next day I woke up around 07:00 AM, took a shower, ate some cereal and went to school.  
I always walked to school. My dad thought I always took the bus, but my school wasn't that far away from my house, about fifteen minutes of walking, and I wanted to save some money. I didn't show up late, if I left my house in time.  
...Unfortunately, this wasn't the case today.  
I started panting heavily as I splashed through the puddles and ran at a tempo that was very fast, even for _me_.  
It had started raining last night, and still hadn't stopped. The clouds formed a thick blanket of grey in the sky, so thick that very few sunlight broke through. It was still very dark. As I ran to the other side of the street, avoiding some cars and ignoring the loud honking and yelling ('Watch where you're going!' 'You rotten kid!') I checked the time on my mobile phone. It was 8:24 am exactly. I had six minutes before I had to be in class.  
As I continued running like crazy, a black limousine lowered speed. It now drove next to me.  
Puzzled, I looked at the vehicle with a raised eyebrow. The window slowly opened, revealing a raven haired girl that was sipping from a light purple tea cup and looked at me, bored.  
''So,'' She started, ''How are you?''  
''Practically dead, how about you?'' I panted.  
''I'm fine, see you at school.'' She said, giving me a small wave before the window closed again and the big car turned around the corner.  
''Wait, Platina! Aren't you going to give me a ride?!'' I called after her, but she couldn't hear me.  
I snarled, but then recovered and ran even faster. I looked at my mobile phone again.  
It was 8:27 am. I now had three more minutes.  
By the time I entered the class room I was wet through and panting like hell, but I had made it in time.

When I think about it, me being in class in time wasn't even something that was necessary, I just hated being too late.  
When I entered the classroom, the teacher's desk was still empty.  
Diamond waved at me from the back of the classroom with his right hand, while eating what was probably his sixteenth sandwich with his left and smiling his signature sheepish smile. I sat down on the chair beside him.  
''What's up, bro? How was your weekend?'' He asked me.  
''Well, fine. I spent a hella long time working on that essay for History.''  
''What are you talking about?'' He asked me, blinking dumbfounded, ''What essay?''  
''Don't tell me you forgot making it,'' I coughed, paused a while, and then continued, ''...again.''  
''I can't help it! I was busy all weekend.''  
''Right. Doing what exactly?'' I snorted.  
''I- er... All kinds of things!''  
I whacked him on the head, muttering, ''Don't make me laugh, Dia.''  
The teacher had entered the classroom, struggling to keep standing with a gigantic pile of paperwork in his arms and dodging some paper planes that were flying around in the room. After he had put down the paperwork on the teacher's desk he tried motioning the class to calm down. He was ignored though.  
After a few minutes of total chaos, Emerald opened his eyes. He had been napping with his head resting on his arms, and his arms in turn resting on his table.  
_''Uh oh...'' _Was all that flashed through my head as Emerald slowly stood up from his seat.  
He then turned around slowly, faced the classroom and shouted, ''SHUT UP!''  
His voice was like a nuclear bomb, every student that had been standing fell over, and every single student dropped whatever they were holding before as they all fell silent.  
''Thank you, Emerald.'' The teacher said.  
Emerald just muttered something through his teeth, sat down again and continued his nap.  
The rest of the class period everybody was silent, except for Blue -she was whispering to Red- the loud snores from Emerald and the teacher in front of the class, who seemed to be trying desperately to make the students listen to him instead of letting their thoughts drift off, like what was happening to me right now.

There wasn't any particular reason I thought of it right now, it might have been the weather or the cold that I was suffering from at the moment. I wasn't entirely sure.  
My thoughts weren't with the rain or the way I had to cough and sneeze during every sentence, though.  
I was thinking of what had happened about six years ago.

It was cold and wet. The two things I hated the most.  
...After snakes, of course. I hated snakes.  
And I hated my dad, too. Stupid dad.  
He was stupid for making me go into the rain for groceries, he was stupid for being the reason I was cold right now, but he was mostly stupid for making mum go away. It was all his fault.  
I was stomping through the puddles on the sidewalk of what I called 'shopping street'. It was a long street, so I had to walk about ten minutes before I reached a supermarket.  
The sky was grey with clouds right now. Ugly clouds.  
I sneezed.  
I didn't like the looks of the gloomy sky, so I lifted my orange umbrella up a bit higher. This way I couldn't see the ugly clouds anymore. I smiled triumphantly to myself.  
_'Oh, the cleverness of me.'_  
After a few minutes of walking through the damp street I was yanked back a little. A big man tried pulling away my umbrella.  
I tried holding it, but the force was too strong, causing me to let go and fall in a puddle.  
''Ouch!'' I said.  
When I got up and turned around, I noticed the big man was in fact the wind.  
But no matter who it was, it would_ not _get my umbrella!  
I ran after it quickly, trying to keep dry by holding my arms above my head (which didn't work quite well).  
I increased speed when I didn't seem to catch up with the orange umbrella.  
It didn't help. I increased my speed even further, which truly was quite fast. People always told me I ran as fast as a cheetah, It made me proud.  
At my current speed, though, I was unable to watch out for possible obstacles on the sidewalk.  
I hadn't quite thought about that yet. Unfortunately, before I could lower my speed down for a bit, I tripped over a trashcan that was laying at its side. With a loud 'whack!' I fell down on the stone teals and rolled into a dark alley.

Moaning, I tried to get up. Unfortunately, my foot slipped on the damp ground, causing me to fall down again, face first.  
I propped myself up on my arms and slowly got up. I brushed myself off, which was pretty useless since I was wearing my green raincoat and the fact that the rain would clean me up in no time.  
When I looked at my knee I noticed I had scraped it pretty badly.  
I sighed and was just about to leave the alley and continue my way to the supermarket without an umbrella, when I noticed a little girl sitting in front of me, leaning against the dirty wall.  
I found it strange that she didn't think of helping me when I fell down like that.  
''...Um... Hi.'' I said, taking a few steps in her direction, ''I'm Pearl, what's your name?''  
She didn't say anything, just stared at the ground.  
''Is something wrong? Do you need help?''  
_'Do not lose your temper, Pearl.'_  
She was silent for a long time, but when she seemed to notice I wasn't preparing to leave, she spoke, ''I'm not allowed to talk to the commoners.''  
I blinked, first at her heavy French accent, and then at the realisation for what she had said, ''To the _what_?''  
''The commoners.''  
''What are commoners?''  
''You are one. My daddy says I should only talk to people with a social standard, like us.''  
''There's no need to be mean. My daddy says you shouldn't judge a book on it's cover.''  
She blinked, ''I wasn't talking about books.''  
I sighed. ''Look, do you want help, or not?''  
''I do not.'' She stated, puffing her cheek out and looking away from me.  
''But you're shivering.''  
''I am not!'' She said, fists clenched on her light pink raincoat.  
''Yes you are! I can see you shivering!''  
''Don't be a pest.''  
''I'm not! I'm only telling the truth!'' I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, ''Look, I am going home right now. You can come if you want.'' With that I turned around, leaving the alley.  
I was now on the sidewalk again, walking into the direction of my house. I was walking very slowly, just in case.  
In a few seconds I smiled. I heard a few splashes in puddles behind me, revealing the fact that the girl was running after me.  
When she had finally caught up, she didn't say a thing to let me know she was there.  
''Changed your mind?'' I asked her.  
She was fidgeting the end of her raincoat uncomfortably, but then looked at me fiercely and said: ''No!''  
I raised one of my eyebrows, as she furrowed hers.

When we arrived at my house, we were both soaking wet and ice cold.  
My dad didn't open up the door, so I used the keys I had gotten myself.  
When we entered the house, we were greeted by warm air stroking our bodies.  
''Daddy?! I brought somebody!'' I yelled up the stairs, but nobody answered.  
I sighed, and now turned to the raven haired girl beside me, chuckling at the look of disgust she wore when she looked around the hallway, ''You can remove your coat, I will get a few towels.''  
With that I ran up the stairs, deciding I should look for some.  
When I entered the living room, I noticed a letter hanging from the television, this is what it said:

_''Hey Pearl,__  
__I got an urgent call from my boss, I'm sorry but I have to leave.__  
__The dinner is on the table, you can put it in the microwave if it's cold.__  
__I'll be home around eleven.__  
__  
__Dad''__  
_  
_'Ugh, this is what happens every time.'_ I thought, biting my lip.  
''Pearl?'' I heard a voice say from behind me.  
When I turned around I saw the girl standing in the doorpost, wearing clothes that looked very expensive.  
''Woah! You look so fancy!'' I noticed, but then recovered and said, ''I'm sorry, I'll get the towels.''

Ten minutes later we sat on the carpet in front of the chimney, warming ourselves by the fire.  
We had talked for a bit, and she had told me that her father had told her she was to marry a complete stranger when she was a bit older, and that she had to move to another country. She hadn't taken that lightly. But, because she was very wealthy, she was very well-mannered and had learned not to be mean to her father. She had walked out of the room in silence instead, and decided to run away. ''Too bad I lost my bag...'' She ended her story.  
I didn't say anything for a while, but then said, ''It must be horrible...''  
She nodded.  
''But... You shouldn't leave your family without telling them where you are.'' I paused for a while, ''My mum did that, and it hurts... very much.''  
She was looking down at her boots.  
''I don't understand why your family just decides what your future will be, though.'' I said.  
She looked up at me, desperation visible in her eyes. ''They want to pass on wealthiness to the generations of our family that come after them, and to get that to happen they need my...'' She paused for a while, ''..._époux_... to be wealthy as well.''  
''Aypoo? What's an aypoo?''  
''No, silly! Époux! It means...''  
''...Husband?''  
''Yes!''  
For the first time this evening, she was laughing. And before I knew it, I was joining her.  
When we had stopped laughing, we were both silent for a while. Just looking at the flames in the chimney.  
''...Platina.'' She said suddenly.  
''-Eh?''  
''Platina Berlitz. That's my name.''  
I smiled. ''Ok, Platina. Let's be friends!''  
''Yes!''  
''But now you have to go back to your daddy. Leaving without telling somebody makes people sad.''  
She nodded, ''Ok. I will go back.''

And she did.

* * *

_I think this is the chapter that is written best. I dunno… I like writing Pearl. Our characters are kind of similar, I guess.  
__Well… Except for the fact that I don't have that much of a short temper and... well... I'm a girl. XD_

_Please review, it makes me update faster. ;D_

_~Lion3queen_


	13. Chapter 12

_A Franticshipping chapter! Ahaha!  
Enjoy. ;D_

_~Lion3queen_

* * *

_I want you to want me, I need you to need me, I love you to love me  
I'm begging you to beg me..._

I bobbed my head to the beat of the music coming from my iPod.  
I was sitting in the bus that would take me to school, listening to a few of the songs I called my 'MMM' (Monday Morning Music, a simple combination of songs to wake me up at morning), and looking out of the window without taking in any of the buildings or people.  
I got sick of _I Want You To Want Me_ quickly, pressed the next-button and started listening to _I Get So Distracted_.  
I didn't notice I was actually singing out loud until people started looking at me, chuckling quietly.  
I quickly closed my mouth and hoped I could somehow shrink to the size of a mouse so I could hide underneath my seat until the bus arrived at my school.  
Unfortunately, this was real-life, so I pretended not to care and crossed my legs casually.  
I looked at my reflection in the window. Two blue eyes stared back at me, under a mop of messy brown hair that was partly hidden underneath a sapphire-coloured bandanna. There were bags underneath my eyes, and my clothes were dirty.  
Yes, I had looked better.  
Of course, that was when Ruby and me were still friends. He would always comb my hair and pick my clothes, so I wouldn't look like a hobo like I did right now. I resisted the urge to break the window, and instead directed my gaze on the back of the seat in front of mine. It was clothed with a cheap kind of material with a flower pattern. It looked like it was very old. It was also covered with old chewing gum. I wrinkled my nose.  
I did that often lately.  
It was strange how I couldn't remember I had ever had a problem with something that was dirty before.

My attention was caught by a beeping sound and a small sign that now said 'High School Bus Stop' in red glowing characters, announcing the fact that my halt was close.  
I picked up my bag and walked towards the exit, as well as at least half of the passengers.  
As soon as the bus stood still and I stepped into the fresh winter morning-air, I noticed Blue. She was frantically dropping the content of her yellow bag on the ground in the middle of the schoolyard.  
She didn't seem to take notice of the students surrounding her, shooting her puzzled looks.  
''Soooo...'' I started when I stood next to her ''how are you?".  
''_I can't find my notebook_!'' She yelled into my face.  
''What notebook?''  
''The notebook with all of my songs! _I'm sure I've brought it!_''  
''Calm down, we can find it.''  
As she looked at me, I couldn't believe the panic that was in her eyes. Was that thing _that_ important to her?  
''Might there be another reason why you want it back that much?''  
As she looked down on her stuff, she brushed strands of stubborn hair out of her face. It was a sign that she didn't know what to say.  
She then shoved all of her stuff back into her bag, grabbed my arm and pulled me with her.  
When we ran into Yellow on the way, Blue also grabbed her arm and brought us to a corner of the schoolyard that was rarely crowded.  
''What's wrong?'' Yellow asked, tilting her head to the side and checking her watch, ''We have about five minutes before school starts.''  
''I think Blue is about to say it, ain't that right?.''  
The brunette nodded and took a deep breath, ''I-I think... I might... like Green.'' she shook her head, and then said, ''-no... Not _like_, love. _I love him_. My notebook is gone, Yellow.''  
The blonde frowned.  
''It doesn't just consist of songs. Each of the songs is a confession. Nobody may read it... _yet_.'' Blue finished, finally looking up at me and Yellow.  
''Oh, Blue...'' Yellow paused for a while, but then continued, ''We should talk about this later, school is about to start.''  
Blue gave a sigh out of relief. She was obviously glad she could think about everything, at least until the first break.

In class it was professor Birch, my dad, who told us about a project we'd be doing today, instead of the usual lessons.  
It was a charity project. We would paint the rooms from an orphanage for free.  
As soon as professor Birch divided us into groups of two, we would go into the bus that was waiting for us outside.  
''Red and Emerald, Blue and Pearl, Green and Diamond, Ruby and Sapphire-'' _'SLAM!'_  
My head had been resting on my hand, but after the mention of the last couple my arm had slipped away, resulting in my face landing on the table painfully.I slowly looked up, as my dad started explaining more about the charity project, probably trying to distract the rest of the class from my last embarrassing action.  
I looked at Ruby, I couldn't see his face because he was searching through his bag, but I expected it didn't look very happy. It was then that I noticed everybody was picking up their bags and walking towards the door.  
I stood up stiffly and followed them, feeling Ruby's eyes on my back as I walked past his seat.

When I entered the bus and looked for an empty seat, I found there was none.  
Just as I was about to just keep standing, I was pulled down by somebody.  
''Argh!'' I gasped, as I landed on the seat-belt painfully.  
''Shh!'' the person next to me whispered. It was Blue. The brunette crossed her arms and glared at the back of the seat nearly opposite of the one she was sitting on, ''Can you believe it? They haven't let go of each other since New Year's eve!'' she snarled, shooting another glare at the seat.  
I poked my head around the seat and noticed Green and Platina sitting there. They were, indeed, kissing.  
Blue blew a strand of hair out of her face, and muttered, ''Hello, they are _not_ alone here.''  
I refused to give in to the urge to chuckle, and just nodded.  
''Yep, those two sure are selfish.'' I told her awkwardly.  
She nodded, not tearing her eyes away from the seats before us.  
I sighed and searched my bag for my iPod.  
As I was almost done untangling the strings from the earplugs, I noticed a person waving at me from the seat on the other side of the cabin aisle.  
It was Pearl.  
''Hey there, I wanted to talk to Blue about the charity project, could you distract her from the piece of fabric she's looking at?'' He asked me, grinning, although I couldn't help but notice how his amber eyes flicked over to the two teens sitting on the seats in front of ours every once in a while as well.  
''Ofcoz' I can!'' I practically yelled. The tense atmosphere made me uncomfortable.  
I prodded Blue on her shoulder, ''Pearl wants to talk to ya'.''  
She craned her neck, waving at the blond, ''mind if we swapped seats?''  
I shook my head and got up clumsily. The brunette followed, but with much more grace.  
She took a hold of the baggage rack, so I could sit down on the seat by the window.  
Unfortunately for her, as soon as I had sat down, the bus rode over a hump, causing Blue to tumble over.  
The brunette stumbled for a few seconds, making funny movements with her arms to keep herself from falling, but then finally tripped over a bag that was lingering around on the floor and fell down on a nearby chair.  
Unfortunately, there was a person sitting on that chair.  
And even more unfortunately, that person was Green.  
She was sprawled on his lap, with her feet dangling from the arm rest. She rubbed her forehead with her hand, obviously dazed from the fall she had made just seconds before. She then slowly opened her eyes, looking straight into the surprised face of Green.  
The brunette flinched, but recovered quickly and smiled at him, flashing a peace sign and chirping a, ''Wow, nice catch!''  
He sighed, but smirked at her, too.  
After a few seconds, Platina cleared her throat, and Blue jumped up with a red face. She then stiffly walked back to her own seat.  
After she had sat down, I couldn't resist but whisper, ''So... Comfortable, weren't ya'?''  
Although Blue tried to hide it by hanging her head, I could see the wide grin that spread on her face.

I didn't know I had fallen asleep, until Blue's voice filled my ears, ''Sapphire! Wake up, were here!''  
I groaned, opening one eye suspiciously.  
''Look at that building, it's enormous!'' The blue-eyed girl that was sitting next to me remarked, pointing at a big church-like building that was visible through the window. It was, indeed, gigantic.  
''If that's the orphanage, we've got a heck of a paintwork to do.'' I said, sighing. I watched as my breath formed white clouds of condense on the glass. The voices of the students faded as a voice boomed through the speaker-boxes that were attached to the ceiling of the vehicle, ''Hello, students. I hope you enjoyed the ride.'' Unenthusiastic murmuring could be heard as the voice continued talking, ''This is Misty, the student president. I organised this trip so you would learn to get your lazy asses to do some good, and believe me, you will. If those kids have to sleep in awful looking rooms, I will deal with you _myself_. Ok, this is what you'll do as soon as you've set a foot out of this bus-'' The murmurs were beginning to get louder and louder, ''You'll walk to the rest of your class, and receive instructions from an employee of the orphanage. After that you will walk to the room that has been- WILL EVERYONE _SHUT UP_?!''  
The students gulped, and the murmurs faded instantly.  
''-Thank you. So, as I was saying... You will go to the room that has been allocated to you and your partner, and paint it as good as you can. The kids are all off to a zoo on the edge of town, so do your best. Thanks for listening.''  
I chuckled. Misty may seem like a tough girl, but she was fun to hang out with. I knew for a fact that the red head had a small crush on Red.  
Blue got up, and was now talking to Pearl about what colour the rooms were supposed to get.  
''I suppose white.'' Pearl said.  
''White?! Why?'' Blue asked him.  
''Isn't that a regular colour for orphanages and hospitals and stuff?''  
''Orphanages and hospitals are not the same. I would go for blue.''  
''That's because blue is your _name_.''  
''Tsk, you're just jealous because you have a gay name like pearl.''  
''It isn't gay!''  
''Pearls are for fat old ladies in empty mansions that have nothing else to do but making their cats lay down on their laps and feeding them sticky old chocolate all day long.''  
''That's not true!''  
''You know it is.''  
They walked out of the bus, still discussing colours and names energetically.  
I yawned, not bothering to cover my mouth with my hand, and reluctantly stepped out of the bus.  
I stretched the muscles in my arms -they ached a bit because I had fallen asleep with my head resting on them- as I looked around. I noticed groups of students standing on the plaza in front of the orphanage. Misty stood in the middle, holding a megaphone with her right hand, and gesturing towards a small group of girls with the other.  
''Hey, Misty! D'you know where my classmates are?'' I called out to her.  
She turned around, placing her now free hand on her hip. When she recognised me, though, she removed it again and used it to wave at me enthusiastically, ''Hey, Sapph!''  
She pulled out a clipboard and inspected it, furrowing her brows, ''Class D, right? They should be right there.''  
The redhead pointed her finger at a group of people that was very loud in comparison with the others.  
''Thanks!'' I said as I spun on my heels and began running to my classmates.  
Just when I reached the group of people, the students were silenced by a friendly looking woman with pink hair.  
''Hello, students. My name is Joy, nice to meet you.''  
Blue was gaping at her strangely, ''Didn't you work in the children's hospital downtown?''  
''-What? Oh, of course! You must mean my cousin, she works there. We look very alike.''  
''...I guess so.''  
''Anyway, I work here in the St. Joseph orphanage as a caretaker of the children. There are some things you might want to know about this interesting building...''  
The woman started a long and most definitely _not _interesting story about the orphanage. All the time I let my mind wander free and sometimes catched words like 'paint' 'children' and 'charity'.  
Then, all of a sudden everybody started walking towards the entrance of the building with their partners.  
I looked around for mine, but didn't see Ruby anywhere.  
''I don't see him anywhere, maybe he's lost.'' I heard a voice say from behind me.  
''Hopefully.'' I sighed, until I turned around and noticed a boy with a white hat and crimson eyes standing about a feet away from me with a smirk plastered on his face.  
''Ehehehe, joking?'' I tried.  
''Right. Let's go inside, it's cold here.''  
''Sissy.'' I muttered.  
''I heard that.''  
''Like I care.'' there was a silence as we entered the building, before I broke it by saying, ''So, do you know where we have to go?''  
''You don't, then?''  
''Ofcoz' I do!''  
''Ok, I'll follow you then.''  
''Good.'' He was _so_ doing this on purpose, that sadist.  
When I looked around, I noticed there were hallways that lead to every direction possible.  
I gulped, but decided to take the second one from the right.

''Here we are.'' A grumpy looking man said, opening up a wooden door for us.  
We had been looking for the room we'd been assigned to for about an hour, when I had admitted I didn't exactly know where we should be going. Ruby had just snickered and asked a man that was fixing a lamp where we should go.  
He had, reluctantly, helped us find the room and then returned to work muttering something that sounded like, ''Darn' kids these days... Always lose their way...''  
I allowed myself to look around the room.  
It was very old and dark, even though the afternoon sun was creeping through a gap in the white curtains. The floor was covered with tailings of paint that was peeled off through the years. The walls, of course, didn't look much better.  
I sighed, and leaned against the doorpost.  
Suddenly the light was gone.  
''Hey!'' I muttered as I removed the piece of cloth that Ruby had thrown at me from my head. It was a big, old sweater.  
''What's this?''  
''There's some clothing on this chair.'' He said. His voice sounded muffled because he was pulling on a sweater similiar to the one I was holding.  
''You don't seem disgusted by this clothing.'' I remarked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice.  
''Wouldn't want my own _not _hideous clothing to get filthy.'' He said, picking up a bucket of paint that was placed next to the pile of clothes and studying it's tag, ''See? It can't be removed from clothing. -Speaking of clothing... Who's dressed you this morning?''  
''I did.'' I muttered.  
He chuckled.  
''What?!''  
''You look like a hobo!''  
I could feel my cheeks heat up with fury (or embarrassment, I wasn't entirely sure.)  
''Here,'' He said when I had pulled on some clothing from the orphanage over my own as well, ''You start painting those walls.'' He pointed at the wall by the door and the one next to it, giving me a bucket of blue paint.  
''Yeah, yeah.''

After about an hour of painting the walls blue -and in Ruby's case, red- I cheered, ''Ha! Finished a wall!''  
''Yeah. Your wall looks like a battlefield, though.'' The raven haired boy said as he took out his glasses and studied it.  
I turned around to look at his wall, and noticed that indeed, his wall was painted way more neat than mine.  
''But you've done only half of yours!''  
''It's the result that matters, right?''  
''No!''  
''Yes!''  
''No it doesn't!''  
''Yes it does!''  
''No it doesn't!''  
''Does too!''  
I figured I wouldn't win this argument, so instead of continuing it I just started glaring at him.  
Most people would have flinched or continued painting the walls, but this was Ruby. He was glaring right back at me.  
After a few minutes though, he gave up and broke the eye contact.  
''HA! I win, you weakling!''  
''Who's the weakling?''  
''YOU. Want me to repeat it again?''  
Before I knew it, he had dipped his paintbrush into his bucket of red paint and smeared my face with it, leaving a red mark of paint on my left cheek.  
At first I could only gape at him, ''Ya' did _not_ just do that.''  
I expected him to turn around and finish his wall, or mutter something through his teeth like ''barbarian.''  
I most certainly did not expect him to do the following, though.  
The raven haired boy standing in front of me smirked, ''...Or did I?''  
I couldn't remember him ever trying to piss me off before, or invite me to try something to pay him back. Because really, that was what he was doing, if you read between the lines.  
...And I had always been good at that.  
I glared at him, before turning around and finding my bucket of paint on the wooden floor.  
I cupped a bit of blue paint with my hands, spun on my heels and then moved my arms upwards, until, before he knew what was happening, I had opened my hands up, letting the paint slip through my fingers and cover his hat.  
He stared at me, obviously disgusted, while the paint dripped down his hair and on his sweater.  
Then slowly the corners of his mouth curled upwards, ''Ok, so now you're dead, Birch.''  
We spent the following half our just running after each other and painting each other -and at times the walls-, red and blue.  
Then, when both of us finally ran out of breath, we for some reason ran into each other and thumbled over, laughing like mad.  
When we'd finally both stopped chuckling, we sat up, and decided it was time to eat our lunch.  
Though I ate more than Ruby, I was done more quickly.  
I leaned against a wall that had yet to be painted, and propped up my legs.  
I felt really tired.  
I yawned.  
_'I suppose closing my eyes for a few seconds won't be a problem, __I'll start painting again when Ruby does.'  
_That was the last thing that crossed my mind before my eyelids drooped and everything went black.

_''Hey Sapphire! What are you doing down there?'' I heard a soft voice call out to me.  
As I moaned I felt something tickling my back.  
When I opened my eyes, I noticed the 'something' was in fact grass.  
I was lying on my back, in a field of grass, with small, wite flowers that made the green of the grass seem even greener. The field was surrounded by lush trees.  
The sky was a light blue, decorated with pearly white clouds.  
'Strange,' I thought, 'I'm sure I was in this old building just minutes ago...'  
I sneezed, as my nose was tickled by grass helms.  
I heard somebody chuckle from behind me, and when I turned around I recognised Ruby.  
He was holding out his hand, causing the blades of grass that were in his palm to fly in my direction.  
''Ruby, what are you doing? What is this gay place?''  
''Dunno.'' He said, sitting down before me.  
I noticed his clothes weren't red and black like normally, but white.  
When I looked down at myself, I noticed that I wasn't wearing my usual clothes either.  
I was wearing a white dress.  
''Holy crap! Don't look at me!'' I yelled.  
''Why not?'' He asked me, widening his eyes, ''You look beautiful!''  
'This isn't Ruby,'' I thought, ignoring the heat rushing to my cheeks, 'Ruby isn't like this. He isn't sweet.'  
But for some reason I thought of the times he had been nice to me.  
He had made me a whole wardrobe of clothes that were, even though I would never openly admit it, gorgeous.  
He had taught me how to read and write.  
He had rushed to my house and comforted me when my mother died from lung-cancer (and not just for a few minutes, but for eight whole hours).  
Ruby's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, ''Do you have a fever?''_  
_''Er... No!'' I stuttered._  
_''Then why are you cheeks red like that?'' He asked me, putting his hand on my forehead and moving his face a little closer. _  
_I flinched at his touch, ''No, really! I'm fine!''_  
_He looked at me suspiciously, moving his face even closer, ''Are you kidding me? Your face is hot as well!''_  
_''Thanks! Er... I mean-'' I stuttered, realising my mistake._  
_''Don't worry, Sapphire,'' He said, all of a sudden, ''I know you have fallen for me, it's obvious.''_  
_''I haven't!'' I muttered through my teeth, becoming uncertain for some reason._  
_''Stop it! I've known for a while now. Let's ride off to the sunset together.'' He said, pointing at a horse that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. _  
_He took my hand and pulled me up, running to the horse and helping me get on it._  
_When he turned around, our faces were so close._  
_For some reason, I didn't want to push him away, or jump off of the horse. Instead, I felt myself leaning in-_

''Sapphire!''  
''Hm...'' I said, opening up my eyes.  
Ruby was sitting in front of me, waving his hand in front of my face.  
''What were you doing?''  
''Er... Nothing!''  
''You sure? For some reason you kept saying my name... -Like twenty times!''  
''I was... Er...'' I stammered, but mentally I smacked myself on the head. _Of_ _course_ it had been a dream, I wouldn't want to kiss that sissy in real life. Seriously, what was I thinking?  
The raven haired teen just sighed, and leaned back, resting on his elbows.  
Until he seemed to notice something on my clothes, looked down at his own and sat up straight again.  
''Hey, look!'' He exclaimed, ''You're ruby, and I'm sapphire!''  
As I looked down at my clothes and looked at his, I noticed he was, indeed, covered in sapphire colored paint. My clothes were splattered with the same paint, but ruby colored.  
For some reason his remark made me smile, ''You're right!''

As we got up, I bit my lip. The dream was more than a cheesy chickflick scene with me and Ruby as the main characters. It also made me realise what a great friend Ruby had been to me.  
I didn't want to stop being his best friend.  
But, to be his best friend again, I had to put my pride aside.  
Which was hard, truly hard. I didn't like to admit it, but I knew it was true.  
I had never met somebody with more pride than myself.  
...Except for Ruby.  
He was proud, too. I bet he wouldn't have been able to bring himself to apologize to me if he were in my shoes.  
I took a deep breath and looked up at him, ''I'm sorry.''  
His eyes widened, ''you are _what?_''  
''I said I am sorry. I was stupid for being mad at you for so long. I want us to be friends again.''  
He rubbed the back of his head nervously, but then smiled and said, ''You're forgiven.''  
After that I was so happy I was sure I could have made a victory dance.  
Luckily I could stop myself just in time.  
I was also sure I would have been able to hug him.  
Too bad I couldn't stop myself before I did that.  
Before I knew it, I had put my arms around him and pulled him closer with force only I could proceed.  
He staggered, but when he regained his balance put his arms around my waist.  
I'm not sure how long we stood there like that. It could have been a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes or an hour.  
All I knew is that we didn't break apart until we heard loud bangs on the door and Emerald barged in.  
''You guys! I wanted to tell you we'll be leaving in about half an hour and you can take a quick break- _Ew!_'' The blonde shouted, as he noticed us.  
''Well, technically, we had one.'' Ruby remarked.  
Emerald's eye twitched, but he didn't react on Ruby's comment. He just walked out of the room, muttering something that sounded like, ''Just be outside in half an hour.''  
After Emerald had slammed the door shut, his words sunk in.  
''Crap! That means we have a half an hour before we're going home!" I yelled.  
Ruby appeared to be in deep thought, because he snapped his fingers, and said, ''We can do it, if we do it together. It'd be best if you paint the rest of the walls, because you're quicker. I could smoothen everything out and cover the white parts.''  
I nodded.  
He held up his hand for a high five, and I smacked it with mine.

We had succeeded in finishing painting the room and arrive at the meeting point in time.  
I noticed Blue and greeted her. She was leaning against an iron lamp pole with her arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. I noticed she was, just like me and Ruby, covered in paint.  
The only difference was that the entire right half of her face was blue, as well as her hair, making some strands of hair stick out strangely.  
''You guys had a paint fight as well?'' I asked the brunette, pointing at the paint on my fingers and face. The rest of my body had been protected by the painting clothes.  
''Nope,'' Blue answered, ''I tripped over the doorstep and fell head-first into my paint bucket.''  
I thought she was being sarcastic at first, but the look on her face proved that that she told the truth.  
Somehow managing to keep a straight face, we entered the bus and sat down next to each other.  
I couldn't help but think about Ruby the whole way back, and wondering how I had been expecting to hold out without my best friend.

Because that's what he was.

* * *

**Look at that shiny button! Doesn't it make you want to click it?**

**l**

**l**

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**v**


	14. Chapter 14

_I figured I should update this story again._

_

* * *

_

_'Toot! Toot!'_

The honking of an approaching car made me realise I was spacing out.

I snapped my head up just in time to see it come closer at what seemed an immense speed.

Also, I noticed I was standing in the middle of the road.

''Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!'' Was all that popped into my mind as I half-ran, half-dove to the sidewalk.

The car that had almost hit me didn't stop driving, but the driver did shake his fist at me furiously.

''Blue! Are you out of your mind?'' I heard somebody call out to me. I could also hear footsteps approaching swiftly.

''Oh, hello, Green!'' I greeted the teen, brushing off my short, crimson skirt.

''What kind of Kamikaze-pedestrian are you? _What is it with you and getting hit by cars?_'' The blond continued, sweatdropping.

''I wasn't paying attention, I'm sorry.'' I appologised.

''What was the reason you were standing in the middle of the road in the first place?''

''I was just... zoning out,'' I answered truthfully.

''You do that more often, but why _there_?''

I shrugged.

It was a surprisingly sunny saturday morning. The heat coming from sun had melted most of the snow, making the ground slippery. I had taken the bus to the center of the town, so I could go to the pet store.

For some reason, my parents had decided I was responsible enough to own a pet. I had asked Silver to come with me, but he had  
grunted something like, ''I don't like animals'' and went to meet up with his friends. He was going to see a movie at the movie theatre.

Again, the feeling of warmth penetrated my body at the thought of my little brother finally having succeeded in getting good friends. I could not supress a smile. That thought also was what made me space out just minutes ago. Unfortunately, just as I was crossing over.

...I had to stop doing that, I was going to get myself killed someday.

Green helped me up and raised an eyebrow at me, noticing my sheepish grin, ''What is it?''

''Nothing,'' I said, shaking my head, ''I'm on my way to the pet shop. What are you doing here?''

''I was going to the library so I can work on the history project _you_ should be busy working on as well.'' He muttered.  
He was probably annoyed because he knew that I always got the exact same grade he did, despite the fact that I didn't do any work for school. I was normally one of the people that scampe the job at the last minute, and for some reason get away with it.

''Yep. So, wanna come to the pet store?'' I asked him.

''Pets hate me.''

I chuckled, remembering a summer afternoon when Red, Green and me went to the public park. It had been fun. I had been playing with a ball until at some point, it fell into the pond. After a long time of scolding and arguing, Green and Red tried getting it back. Unfortunately, a dog passed by when they were reaching for the ball with a stick, and pushed Green in.

Things like that had been happening to him since he was born.

''Oh, come on. I'm sure nothing happens. They're all inside of their cages.''

''Fine.'' He mumbled. He knew me well enough to understand that I wasn't going to let him pass out on this one.

''Ok, then!'' I said, grabbing a hold of the white hat I was wearing, to prevent it from being blown away by a sudden strong breeze. Even though it was pretty warm today, for a february morning, it was still winter.

The chilly wind kept creeping up on people, making them wrap their coats around themselves and secure their scarves around their necks, protecting their skin from the cold.

The centre of the town was completely deserted, aside from two old ladies that were chattering on the corner of the street, their small dogs, Green and me.

The weeks after the holidays had passed without much happening. School had started again, and we had started the year with a charity project, in which we painted the walls in an orphanage.

It had been fun.

I noticed a shop display on my right, that was filled with cages with all sorts of animals in them.

''Look, Green! It's the pet shop!'' I said, pointing at the shop the display belonged too.

He let out a long sigh as I pulled him into the shop.

When we entered it, my eyes almost popped out of my head. I had never seen so many different kinds of animals gathered in one place.

Everywhere were cages and boxes piled up, making the shop indistinct, but also giving it a cozy feel.

An elderly woman was sweeping the floor. She looked about sixty years old, and wore glasses that gave her a bit of a stern look. Her grey hair was tied up in a bun.

When she noticed us she placed the broom she had been using to sweep the floor against the wall and greeted us politely, ''Welcome, can I help you?''

Green shook his head at her before I could reply, ''We're just looking around.''

I nodded. I walked around in the store for a few minutes, taking in the animals and my surroundings.

I noticed rabbits, cats, dogs, hamsters, guinea-pigs, birds and fishes in many colours, all in a suitable cage.

The walls were painted a playful orange, and the floor consisted of checked white and black tiles. There shelves filled with colourful toys and food meant for animals everywhere.

As I looked around curiously, poking my head around every corner and petting a few animals that were standing on tip toes, pressing their paws against the sides of their cages, probably expecting to be feeded, I noticed something that attracted my attention.

It was an aquarium, filled with fresh water and rocks. Lying on the rocks and splashing about in the water were a few turtles. All of them were quite big, but I noticed one smaller one. It was dark blue, but had a few lighter spots on his shield.

The rest of the animals looked perfectly at ease in the water, but the smaller turtle seemed to have some difficulty keeping its head above the water. It was splashing about in the clear liquid. For some reason it seemed like the other turtles were shooting him awkard glances.

I didn't even know it was possible for an animal to be an outcast, but this creature was the living proof it was.

''What are you doing?'' I heard Green's voice ask.

''Look, Green! Aren't they beautiful?'' I asked him, turning around.

He was standing a few feet away, but then took a step into my direction.

''Turtles.'' He said blankly.

_'Oh, right. He doesn't like animals.' _

''What do you think is wrong with the small one over there?'' I asked him, pointing at the turtle that had attracted my attention.

He took another step into the aquarium's direction, ''I don't know.''

The woman that worked in the shop had previously been busy cleaning one of the cages nearby, but then looked up at us and stood up.

''We don't know what he has. There's nothing wrong with his brain or anything... We think he's just clumsy.'' She said, brushing off the flower-patterned apron she was wearing.

I looked back at the turtle. It was still splashing about in the water. It looked kind of miserable.

''...How much does it cost?'' I asked the elderly woman.

Green gave me a look that said, _''Are you serious?''_

''It's £15,'' She answered.

''I'll take it, then!'' I chirped. The woman smiled, making her features appear much softer and more gentle.

''You are the only person in the _world_ that would choose an off-balance turtle as a pet,'' Green muttered as we exited the store about ten minutes later, ''There were cats there! Girls love cats, don't they? Are you even a girl?''

I was carrying the box that held my new pet in my arms, protectively wrapping them around it, and humming a song as Green continued sulking.

I stared at the cover of the box when I noticed it was trembling slightly. Before I knew it, a small, dark-blue head was sticking out, taking in its surroundings.

I chuckled at the small creature.

''What are you going to call him?'' Green asked me using his trademark bored tone of voice.

''I don't know yet,'' I replied, ''What kind of turtle is he, anyway?''

''He's a Western Hermann's Tortoise,'' he answered almost immediately.

I shot him a how-do-you-know-these-things glance. He replied with a I-_work_-for-my-grades glance of his own.  
We kept walking in silence.

Not awkward silence, but the silence between friends that know exactly when there's no need to talk.

This silence was, of course, broken my a grumbling stomach. It seemed to only make funny noises when it was not supposed to.

''You hungry?'' Green asked me dryly.

''I kinda forgot to eat breakfast this morning,'' I replied, rubbing the back of my head, embarrassed.

''Right,'' Green sweatdropped, ''Let's grab some breakfast over there.''

The emerald-eyed blond pointed at the Starbucks that was located at the opposite side of the street.

======

About ten minutes later we we were sitting around one of the iron tables the shop was filled with. I was sipping from an Iced White Chocolate Mocha, my favourite, and poking into the Vanilla Bean Cupcake I had bought. Next to the cupcake was a Deluxe Fruit Blend, my favorite kind of fruit salad. I swear I almost _purred_ at the sight of my breakfast.

The only thing Green had bought was a glass of water with ice cubes. I wondered how he did that. Everytime I entered a shop filled with all kinds of delicious beverages, I couldn't resist buying something, or _anything_.

After about ten more minutes we stood up from the table and walked out of the store. I was still holding the carton cup filled with mocha, but had finished the rest of my breakfast. My yellow bag hung over my shoulder, and I carried the box with my pet under my arm. For a second, I wondered why the box seemed so much lighter, but then dismissed it.

''So where are you going now,'' Green asked me when I had finished my drink, ''are you coming to the library?''

I dropped the cup in one of the trashcans that were placed here and there on the sidewalk, and accidently, the box holding my pet as well.

''Oh crap!''  
Without thinking, I half-jumped into the trashcan, reaching for the box with my arms. The whole upper half of my body was now inside the trashcan. I was standing on tip toes, careful not to lose balance.

_''What are you doing, woman?'' _I could hear Green shouting from outside.

When I finally grabbed a hold of the box and pulled myself up, my jaw dropped. The cover of the box had fallen off, revealing the fact that there was no blue creature inside.

I gasped, ''He's gone!''

''Wh-'' Green started, but before he could finish his sentence I pushed the box into his stomach, making him gasp, and dove into the trashcan for the second time that day.

''Stop doing that! Have you completely lost your mind?'' He called after me, but I didn't even hear him. I was too busy throwing all kinds of objects out of the trashcan.

When I was certain I had searched through the whole waste-bin, I pulled myself up again, and turned towards Green.

''...He-'' I gulped, ''-Isn't there...''

Green stood as frozen. I noticed most of the stuff I had dumped out of the trashcan had landed on him, resulting in both of us being covered in all kinds of trash, even though he wasn't the one that had been searching through garbage. I would have laughed at him, had my pet not vanished.

* * *

We spent the rest of the day searching for my pet. We searched the streets, the alleys and even asked the people that passed by. ''-Er... A blue turtle?'' they had asked, looking at us as if we were crazy.

it was six o'clock when we entered the local park. My feet were aching and the blue of the sky gained a slight orange glow, announcing the fact that it was going to be setting soon.

''I'm tired,'' I remarked.

Green was silent for a few seconds, but then said, ''How about searching the park, and going home after? We can continue searching tomorrow.''

I smiled. Green had sacrificed his whole day for the turtle's sake. He truly was a real friend.

''-Well?'' He asked me.

I nodded, ''okay.''

We started searching underneath the stone benches and in the flower beds. The flower beds consisted of nothing more than bald stalks right now, but I knew for a fact that, during spring, the buds sprouted so when it was finally summer, the whole park would be filled with beautiful, colourful flowers.

I pushed over some stalks to get a better view of the frosty soil when a bumblebee flew out, hitting me in the face. I yelped.

''What is it? Did you find him?'' yelled a startled Green from behind me.

''Ah, no, it's nothing. I did find a bumblebee though,'' I said, looking up at the small insect as it flew up, shrinking into nothing but a small yellow and black dot pressed against the azure sky, ''I think it's the first of the year!''

I heard Green let out a soft chuckle.

''What is it?'' I questioned.

''You're crazy,'' He stated. I was about to ask him wether he wanted to die or something, when he continued, ''You're always making the smallest things into miracles.''

I grunted, my cheeks colored an embarassed crimson, ''What's wrong with that?''

''Nothing, really. It wasn't meant as an insult,'' He said. I looked behind me when I heard the sound of cracking roots.

Green was dusting himself off -he had probably been crouching on the ground like me- and then dissapeared behind a big tree.

''I'm going to look for him by the pond,'' I could hear him yell from behind it.

''Ok,'' I said, continuing to search for my turtle in the flower beds.

I just kept sitting there, looking around for any sign of the blue creature, until I was startled by a loud splashing noise from the direction Green dissapeared in some minutes ago. My head shot up. I knew only one place that sound could be coming from.

I jumped to my feet and rushed over the pond as quickly as I could.

You can imagine how surprised I was when I noticed my best friend standing in the pond, his hair, skin and clothes damp and the water reaching his shoulders. I could only gape at him with widened eyes and my mouth hanging open.

Before I knew it I burst out laughing.

About five minutes later I was finally able to speak normally.

Green was still staring at me, his expression blank, ''Done laughing?''

''Yeah, yeah. So what are you doing in there, anyway?''

''I thought I saw something moving in here, and I lost my footing.''

''Really?'' I questioned, ''So, planning on coming out?''

''I'd like to, but there's something biting my thumb.''

''W-what?''

Green raised his hand with a smirk, revealing the blue turtle he was holding.

''Ah! You found him!'' I yelped, running over to my friend.

''...So, please remove him so I can climb out.'' He muttered. He shook his hand at me, causing the creature's limbs to wiggle around.  
I grabbed the turtle and tried to pull him off, but the iron grip he had on Green's thumb didn't loosen. I was wondering how Green could keep a blank expression like the one he was wearing right now.

''Doesn't it hurt?'' I asked him, looking up at him suspiciously.

''A little bit,'' He admitted, still managing to keep his expression unreadable.

I furrowed my brows and pursed my lips in concentration, trying to remove the turtle from his hand without hurting either of them. Then, all of a sudden, the hold the turtle had on Green's thumb loosened, sending me thumbling to the ground backwards.

Green rubbed his thumb and tried climbing out of the pond as I stood up.

''I'll be honest with you,'' he started when he was on the shore, ''my hand hurts like a bitch.''

I pushed my turtle into his face, ''but you found him, didn't you?''

''Yeah I d-''

_'splash!'_

I stomped my right foot on my left to keep myself from bursting out laughing the second time that day.

My turtle had just spat out whatever amount of water he had kept in his mouth, in Green's face.

Green's eyebrow twitched annoyedly, before he opened his mouth to slowly mutter, ''Why is it, that every time something stupid happens to me, you are, or at least a part of, the cause?''

I lowered my arms, so I could now look at him in the face, ''I know I should say I'm sorry, but I know you won't forgive me anyway, so I'll just keep quiet.''

He opened his mouth to retort, but then probably realised I was right and closed it again.

''Let's just go home,'' He sighed.

''Aren't you cold?'' I asked him, eyeing the way his hair was sticking to his forehead and his dripping clothes.

''No.''

I sighed.

_'Why do men always think women like them when they pretend they're tough?' _I thought as I unwrapped my new, white scarf (the old one had been completely destroyed during my accident last year) from my neck and tossed it at Green's face.

He removed it from his head, stared at it and then directed his gaze at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and he got the message, reluctantly wrapping the white piece of fabric around his own neck.

When we arrived at the bus station, we received some awkward glances from people that passed. In fact, they almost broke their neck as  
they tried to see if their eyes weren't deceiving them.

Green sighed as another woman's eyes almost popped out of her head when she was trying to catch a glimpse of us.

We must have indeed looked awkward; a damp boy and a girl that was holding a blue turtle standing by a bus stop.

''So,'' Green started, ''Deciding what you call it yet?''

''_It _is a he.''

''No it isn't, it's Satan in the shape of a turtle.''

I rolled my eyes, ''I think I'll call him Blasty.''

''_'Blasty'_?''

''Yes! From 'water blaster', you know? I thought of it when he sputtered water in your face,'' I sang.

''...That's not even funny.''

''I think it is extremely funny.''

''As long as you keep it away from me, everything's fine with me.''

''That's ok.''

I turned my head to see a bus approaching, and nudged Green with my elbow.

After we had entered it, handed the bus driver some money -again gaining ourselves some awkward glances- and seated ourselves on two seats in the back of the bus.

Green was gazing out of the window and I was having some difficulty keeping the turtle on my lap. If it was true that turtles were slow, Blasty ignored that fact completely.

''Thanks,'' I muttered.

Green turned his head to look at me.

''-For today I mean. Thanks for searching Blasty with me. I'm sorry we didn't go to the library because of me,'' I said, trying to keep the turtle from falling off of my lap. This time the jolting and turning of the bus were the cause of his odd movements, not his nosiness.

''That's ok. That's what friends are for.''

''Yeah, that's what friends are for...'' I repeated, trying to hide the fact that I had felt a wave of sadness wash over me at the word 'friends'.

Because that was what we were.

Friends.


End file.
